He’s Still Providing Mysteries: Edgar Allan Poe
His short stories have frightened many generations of readers and have tingled spines for more than a century and a half. There have been numerous rumors and mysteries surrounding this American born storyteller of the macabre. The mysteries and rumors started soon after his death and continue to this day.
His birth and early years
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts nineteen days after the year 1809 started. His parents were both actors. As the story is told, Edgar’s father was a heavy drinker and abandoned his family very early. As fate would have it, Edgar’s mother died before the little boy even saw his third birthday. His brother and sister were raised by other families. Edgar’s brother William died in 1832 at a young age, and they also had a sister named Rosalie.
Little Edgar was raised by a merchant from Richmond, John Allan and his wife. They took the boy to England for a while but they were back in the United States by the time he was 11. Although he was given the family’s surname as a middle name, they never formally adopted Edgar. Day to day life was always very difficult for this teller of tales and at certain points in his very young life he was without money and without even a place to call home.
The young poet and soldier
Before Edgar was out of his teenage years, a small volume of his poetry was published. Edgar’s first book called Tamerlane and Other Poems was published in 1827 but instead of publishing it under his name, he simple used “A Bostonian” for the byline. Edgar paid the publishing costs himself and it was a loss because the book did not sell well. During this time period, though, he decided that writing was in his blood and crafting tales of mystery and also poetry was what he wanted to do and he started creating the stories that have thrilled so many readers in the nearly two centuries since the stories and poems were written.
He attended the University of Virginia in 1826 when he was seventeen years old, and he studied languages . . . Spanish, French, Italian, Latin and Greek. Edgar had to leave the university a short time later when Mr. Allan refused to pay a gambling debt that Edgar had built up. He was also drinking during this time period.
Poe enlisted in the United States military in May of 1827 under an alias, Edgar A. Perry, at which time he served for two years. Edgar not only enlisted with a faux name, but he listed his age as 22 when he was actually just 18 years old. In 1830 he enlisted at West Point as well.
Time in Paris . . . or not?
One of the many mysteries surrounding Edgar involves whether or not he spent some time in Paris. Alexandre Dumas who wrote The Count of Monte Cristo says yes. In fact, he tells of Poe living with him in Paris for a number of months. He writes of Poe roaming the Paris streets after sundown and he tells of Poe trying to sleep during the day after making the room as dark as possible. There is controversy surrounding whether or not this is true. Why? It’s a mystery.
On the other hand, it is an established fact that several of Poe’s stories are indeed set in Paris. Did he get firsthand knowledge while walking around the darkened city streets with Dumas? Or did he simply write without having ever experienced the ambiance of Paris? Was there even enough of a time window that historians have not been able to document that would have allowed him this travel time?
Marriage and loss
Edgar married his very young (age 13!) cousin in 1836 when he was 27. He had been living with his father’s sister (Edgar’s Aunt Maria) and his future wife, Virginia, lived there with her mother, of course.
During the first few years of their marriage, Edgar was working as editor for a few different magazines. These were the years when some of his best and well-known stories were written, but it was also the time period when his out of control drinking became even more of a problem.
Although many of his poems and stories were being published during this time period, it was severely difficult for Edgar to support his wife and her mother who lived with them and he could never quite make his household financially secure. A drinking problem was also present during this time period.
Some of Edgar’s more famous works were:
—The Fall of the House of Usher in 1839
—The Murders in the Rue Morgue in 1841
—The Tell Tale Heart in 1843
—The Raven in 1845
Edgar lost his wife in 1847 to the same disease that took little Edgar’s own mother away before he was 3, tuberculosis. A devastated Edgar is said to have spent most of his time visiting his wife’s gravesite or crying. He did keep writing for the rest of his days, however short they were.
Death and additional mysteries
Enter the next mystery. Edgar Allan Poe died just two years later in October of 1849. Rumors circulated about his death concerning where and why. Most historians think he died in a hospital in Baltimore after collapsing in the street. Did he? Even more controversy sprang up when a question about whether or not he was murdered was brought to light. Was he? Legend has it that Edgar’s last words were “Lord help my poor soul.”
No matter which of the rumors are true or untrue, Edgar suffered from depression throughout much of his life. If there were periods of happiness, they are not very evident in the biography of Poe’s life. Between the severe bouts of melancholy some of the best (and most frightening!) literature ever written was fashioned, however.
There is even mystery and scandal about whether the remains buried in Edgar’s final resting place are actually his. And that’s not the only mystery about that particular site. Every year, on the anniversary of his birth, the “Poe Toaster” visits his grave and leaves a three red roses and a half bottle of cognac. The tribute has been going on each year since 1949.
