Edgar Allen Poe was an American short story writer, critic, editor, and poet during the mid-1800s. He was born January 19th, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts to Eliza Poe, and David Poe Jr (Who were travelling actors). He was not close to his family simply because they weren’t around. His father left when he was young and his mother passed away when he was about three, so he went to live with Frances and John Allan. He formed a close bond with Frances Allan, but never really got along with John. As Poe grew older he would often scribble down poems on the back of John’s important business papers. Poe went to the University of Virginia but didn’t receive enough funds from John to stay. When he came back home, he found out that his fiancée was engaged …show more content…
Poe was poor, and alone after leaving the Allan’s, so he went to live with his aunt and cousin in Baltimore, Maryland. While he was there John Allan died and left him out of the will, instead giving the will to an illegitimate child. Poe’s cousin Virginia Clemm who was not yet fourteen soon became the object of his desire and his literary inspiration. He won a contest for Saturday Visitor and began writing for Southern Literary Messenger. When Edger turned twenty-seven, he took his aunt and cousin to Richmond and married Virginia Clemm (Who was nearly 14 at the time). While Edger was in Richmond he wrote for the magazine Southern Literary Messenger. He was described as a cut throat critic who wrote vicious reviews on his contemporaries. His aggressive reviewing style was one of the reason his relationship with the publication was strained. In 1837 he left the publication, he worked briefly with Gentleman’s Magazine and The Broadway Journal. In 1845 Edger Poe became a literary sensation with his poem The Raven. The Raven is considered a great American literary poem, because it’s the best of Poe’s career. Also in 1845 Poe claimed that another poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was a plagiarist. This created a lot of backlash for Poe after he claimed