Edgar Allan Poe

Created by: Ryan Hoiland

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BiographyEdgar Allan Poe’s Extraordinary Existence

“With me poetry has not been a purpose, but a passion.”

This quote was said by Edgar Allan Poe which truly depicts his passion for poetry made his works legendary and memorable. He was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston Massachusetts to traveling actors, David and Elizabeth Poe. Poe’s parents had both died within three years of his birth and he was taken in by an affluent merchant in Richmond, Virginia by the name of John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan(“Edgar Allan Poe Biography” 2). At the age of 6, Poe went to school in Scotland, England for five years. Poe was very heartbroken and the last few months in the Allan mansion were very antagonistic until he stormed out of the home on a mission to find adventure and become an astonishing poet. Two years after storming out he found out that Frances Allan was ailing from tuberculosis. Poe had been accepted into the United States Military Academy at West Point, but was kicked out after just eight months. Being broken and alone, Poe went to Baltimore and called upon relatives in the city, where his Aunt Maria Clemn took him in. He soon fell in love with Maria Clemn’s daughter, Virginia. When Poe turned 27 he married Virginia Clemn, who was just 13 years of age, in Richmond. After struggling because of the financial crisis, known as “Panic of 1837”, Poe moved to New York City. After living in New York City for a year, Poe relocated to Philadelphia. Dissatisfaction and brokenness in his life led up to Poe’s death on October 7, 1849 at the young age of 40, with the exact cause of his death being a mystery(“Poe’s Life” 1).

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Biography Cont.Poe’s life had been a tremendous influence on his books and poetry. His first accomplishment, after

storming out of the Allan mansion, was his book, Tamerlane, which he published when he was only 18. Before attending West Point, Poe published another volume of poetry. Poe, frustrated and upset, lasted just eight months in the United States Military Academy at West Point (“Edgar Allan Poe” 2)Thrown out of the military, Poe soon published yet another book. While Poe was in Baltimore, Allan had perished, leaving Poe out of his will. Living in poverty, Poe began publishing his short stories, one of which won a contest sponsored by the Saturday Visiter. He had established great connections through the competition, which allowed him to print more stories. Poe finally discovered his life’s work as a magazine writer, when he received an editorial position at the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond. Within a year of working for the Southern Literary Messenger, he helped make the most accepted magazine in the south. He was able to make this possible with his astounding stories, along with his scathing book reviews. His reputation soon developed into that of a courageous critic who not only insulted the author and the northern literacy establishment, but attacked an author’s work. One of Poe’s victims was anthologist and editor, Rufus Griswold. After marrying Virginia Clemn and moving to New York, he wrote his only novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym and struggled to find magazine work. After just one year in New York, Poe relocated to Philadelphia in 1838, where he wrote a diverse number of magazines. While living in Philadelphia, Poe served as editor of Buton’s magazine. He had also served as an editor of Graham’s magazines and continued to sell articles to Alexander's Weekly Messenger and other journals. Poe was still scarcely able to make a living, in spite of his growing fame. When his original book of short stories, Tales of the Grotesque, was published, he was only paid with 25 free copies of his book. In search of better opportunities, Poe moved back to New York in 1844, where he introduced himself to the city by perpetrating a hoax. His sensational "news story", of a balloon trip across the ocean, had caused the community to read everything about it, until Poe revealed he had deceived them. Poe had been made a household name in January 1845 with the publication of The Raven.

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However, gossip about Poe's relationship with a married women spreading, forced him to leave the city in 1846. After fleeing the city, Poe moved to a small cottage in the country and it was here where Poe's wife had died, after suffering from tuberculosis, at the age of 24. He had become devastated causing him to be unable to write for months. In Lowell, Massachusetts, while on lecture tour, Poe met and befriended a woman by the name of Nancy Richmond, and she had soon inspired some of his well-known poetry. After his wife had passed away, Poe had spent much of his time touring from one city to the next giving lectures and finding backers for his future magazine project to be called, The Stylus (“Poe’s Life” 2).

The name Poe brings to mind many images. When people hear his name they think of images, such as premature burials, murderers and madmen and mysterious women returning from the dead. He is often seen as morbid, with crumbling castles or mysterious figures lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries. He made his livelihood as America's first great literacy critic and theoretician. His reputation mostly rests today on his tales of terror, as well as on his memorable lyric poetry. Poe uses literary devices such as, anadiplosis, which is the repetition of the last word of one line or clause to begin the next, to bring the reader into what they are reading and make them begin to feel and think the way the characters do. Poe has been widely acknowledged as an innovator in the science fiction genre and the inventor of the modern detective story (“Poe’s Life” 1).

Biography Cont.

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Collected Works

Alone

Annabel Lee

The Bells

The City in the Sea

The Conqueror Worm

Dream-Land

A Dream Within A Dream

Eldorado

For Annie

The Haunted Palace

The Raven

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Analysis Poem

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. "'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door-

Only this, and nothing more."

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December, And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.

Eagerly I wished the morrow;- vainly I had sought to borrow From my books surcease of sorrow- sorrow for the lost Lenore-

For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore- Nameless here for evermore.

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Analysis

In “The Raven” Edgar Allan Poe uses symbolism to relate many ideas throughout this poem. This somber poem describes Poe’s sorrow and anger after the passing of his wife. Symbols are something visible that represents something else that is invisible by association or convention. The raven is a representation of death in consort with mournful and never-ending sadness, which Poe uses to relate to the death of his loved one. “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary/ Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore” along with “Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December/ And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor,” Poe states just how miserable he is and his desire to be happy again. December and midnight are both described as the end of something and the anticipation of something new such as, a change. Poe used these terms to describe his longing for happiness and the end of sorrow. “Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore-/Tell me why the lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!" In this quote, Poe used the Plutonian shores to symbolize hell. “Is there- is there balm in Gilead?- tell me- tell me, I implore.” The balm in Gilead is a fictitious place mention in the Old Testament referring to no more suffering. Poe is asking for his end to suffering and hopes to find it soon. Through Poe’s symbolism he reminds us the anger and agony many suffer after the loss of a loved one.

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Introduction PoemsEdgar Allan Poe’s “Annabel Lee” was on of his last complete poetic achievements. This poem follows one of his

favorite themes, the death of a beautiful young woman. In this poem Poe describes his love for young Annabel Lee and even after her death his love for her will always remain. “The angels, not half/ so happy in Heaven, /Went envying her and me:-- /Yes! that was the reason (as all men know, /In this kingdom by the sea) /That the wind came out of a cloud, chilling /And killing my Annabel Lee.” These lines stood out to me because Poe is saying that their love was so intense it caused the angels to become jealous. He believes for that reason the angels caused her death. I chose this poem because it shows that true love does exist and there is love strong enough to endure death.

Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe

It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea,

That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of ANNABEL LEE;--

And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me. She was a child and I was a child,

In this kingdom by the sea, But we loved with a love that was more than love--

I and my Annabel Lee-- With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven

Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago, In this kingdom by the sea,

A wind blew out of a cloud by night Chilling my Annabel Lee;

So that her high-born kinsman came And bore her away from me, To shut her up in a sepulchre In this kingdom by the sea.

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Introduction Poem Cont.The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,

Went envying her and me:-- Yes! that was the reason (as all men know,

In this kingdom by the sea) That the wind came out of a cloud, chilling

And killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love Of those who were older than we--

Of many far wiser than we- And neither the angels in Heaven above,

Nor the demons down under the sea, Can ever dissever my soul from the soul

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee:--

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And the stars never rise but I see the bright eyes Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride,

In her sepulchre there by the sea-- In her tomb by the side of the sea.

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A Dream Within A Dream by Edgar Allan Poe

Take this kiss upon the brow!And, in parting from you now,

Thus much let me avow--You are not wrong, who deem

That my days have been a dream;

Yet if hope has flown awayIn a night, or in a day,In a vision, or in none,

Is it therefore the less gone?All that we see or seem

Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roarOf a surf-tormented shore,And I hold within my handGrains of the golden sand--

How few! yet how they creepThrough my fingers to the deep,

While I weep--while I weep!O God! can I not grasp

Them with a tighter clasp?O God! can I not save

One from the pitiless wave?Is all that we see or seem

But a dream within a dream?

Edgar Allan Poe’s “A Dream Within A Dream” is just one of his many incredible achievements. This poem reflects his feelings with his life at the time and shows his confusion in watching the important things in his life slip away. Poe uses the “golden sand” to represent his loved ones. “Grains of the golden sand--/How few! yet how they creep/Through my fingers to the deep,/While I weep--while I weep!/ O God! can I not grasp/ Them with a tighter clasp?/ O God! can I not save/ One from the pitiless wave?” These lines stood out to me the most because they show that no matter how tight he grasps his loved ones they are always taken away by death which he refers to as the pitiless wave. I chose this poem because there has been a time in my life when it just feels like no matter what or how hard you care for them your loved ones are always being taken away illness and death.

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Sonnet -- To Science by Edgar Allan Poe

Science! true daughter of Old Time thou art! Who alterest all things with thy peering eyes. Why preyest thou thus upon the poet's heart,

Vulture, whose wings are dull realities? How should he love thee? or how deem thee wise,

Who wouldst not leave him in his wandering To seek for treasure in the jewelled skies,

Albeit he soared with an undaunted wing? Hast thou not dragged Diana from her car? And driven the Hamadryad from the wood

To seek a shelter in some happier star? Hast thou not torn the Naiad from her flood, The Elfin from the green grass, and from me

The summer dream beneath the tamarind tree?

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Inspired PoemsSonnet: To Science

Science! How I love thee chemistry you are the bestWith your complex formulas,

Crazy theoriesI hope I can pass

Science! How I love thee chemistry you are the best.I love your test tubes, Your Bunsen burners,Your God awful tests.

I hope I can pass.

Science! How I love thee chemistry you are the best.One more burn, one more explosion

Only blind in one eye,The professor say it should only last a week

I’m not so sure I will pass.

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To My Mother By Edgar Allan Poe

Because I feel that, in the Heavens above,The angels, whispering to one another,

Can find, among their burning terms of love,None so devotional as that of "Mother,"

Therefore by that dear name I long have called you-

You who are more than mother unto me,And fill my heart of hearts, where Death

installed youIn setting my Virginia's spirit free.

My mother- my own mother, who died early,Was but the mother of myself; but youAre mother to the one I loved so dearly,

And thus are dearer than the mother I knewBy that infinity with which my wife

Was dearer to my soul than its soul-life.

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Inspired PoemsGrandpa by Ryan Hoiland

(Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s Poem To My Mother)

Because I feel that in heavens above,

my grandfather watches over me,With his generous blue eyes and

soft gentle smile,I can almost hear him speak.

“I’m there with you. I’m in your dreams. I will never leave.”

His tender benevolence, his soft spoken ways,

I know in my heart he will forever be by me.

I never thought he’d leave this earth so soon,

Though he never truly moved on.Sometimes this world is

challenging, I don’t think I’ll endure,

But here he is alongside meI can nearly sense his calloused

hands,Fall upon my shoulders,Making sure I don’t fall.

I wish I had one moment,One minute lost in time,To embrace my grandpa,

Stand before his kindness, stand before those eyes

And hear “I love you” one more little time

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Faith by Ryan Hoiland

Some say you can’t walk with Faith alone,

But have they tried?Have they opened their arms,

Closed their eyes,And took the first step in stride?

Hope is in my dreamsCherishing what tomorrow may bring.

Love is in my heart,With the desire to fulfill itself.

But good ole Faith stands by my side,Getting me through this rollercoaster,

I call my life

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What It Meant To Lose You by Ryan Hoiland

Stars are shining brightly,

Upon a precious grave.Beneath lies one we truly loved,

But could not save.Friend may think we’ve forgotten,

But our tears are shed like rain.They say time heals all sorrows,But times seems to only prove,

How much we miss you.Its God who stands beside me.Even when things are stressful.He gives me strength to fight it,And courage to bare the blow.

But though this is true,No one will ever know,

What it meant to lose you.

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Bibliography

Biography:http://www.biography.com/articles/Edgar-Allan-Poe-9443160http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/130http://www.poemuseum.org/life.php

Picture Credits-

Night sky: http://s388.photobucket.com/albums/oo328/becky_is_a_star_94/?action=view&current=night-sky.jpg&newest=1

Footprints: http://tinyurl.com/3nssv36

Bunsen Burners and Test tubes: http://tinyurl.com/4346x45

Grain of Sand: http://tinyurl.com/3ks2qbx

Angel:http://tinyurl.com/3fwjvmx

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Bibliography cont.Picture Credits-Edgar Allan Poe: http://tinyurl.com/3cfwu4q

The Raven:http://tinyurl.com/3ndxtnv

Black Raven:http://tinyurl.com/4yeotjv

Heavens Gate:http://tinyurl.com/4x6cmc2

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