Edgar Allan Poe

American writer, poet, and literary critic (1809–1849)

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About

Edgar Allan Poe, born in Boston in 1809, is a major figure in American literature. Orphaned at a young age, he was taken in by John Allan. He published his first poems in 1827. He is credited with inventing the detective story with 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue' (1841) and as a pioneer of science fiction. His work, marked by the fantastic and the morbid, explores human anxieties. He theorized the 'unity of effect' in the short story. He died in Baltimore in 1849 under mysterious circumstances.

* 1809-01-19 — † 1849-10-07

Major works

The Raven (1845)poem
The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841)short story
The Tell-Tale Heart (1843)short story
The Fall of the House of Usher (1839)short story
Eureka: A Prose Poem (1848)essay

Key milestones

1838Moves to Philadelphia, where he has his most prolific period.
1847His wife Virginia Clemm dies of tuberculosis.
1849Dies in Baltimore under mysterious circumstances.

Themes

DeathMadnessMysteryHorrorRational analysis

Sources: poetryfoundation.org · nps.gov

“All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.”

— Edgar Allan PoeTheme · Philosophy

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“I have great faith in fools; self-confidence my friends call it.”

— Edgar Allan PoeTheme · Wisdom

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“The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?”

— Edgar Allan PoeTheme · Philosophy

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“The ninety and nine are with dreams, content but the hope of the world made new, is the hundredth man who is grimly bent on making those dreams come true.”

— Edgar Allan PoeTheme · Motivation

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“They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night. In their grey visions they obtain glimpses of eternity.”

— Edgar Allan PoeTheme · Creativity

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