Edgar Allan Poe's life + "A Valentine"

1. Edgar Allan Poe

2. Stuff about Poe’s life
• Born 1809
• The son of actors
• Father left immediately. Mother died when he
was two.
• Adopted by John and Frances Allan. Renamed
Edgar Allan
• Goes to the University of Virginia. Resorts to
gambling to make up for not getting enough
money from his foster father. Loses $2,000.

3. • Joins the army in 1827 after an argument with
his foster father.
• 1829 foster mother dies. EAP enrolls in West
Point
• 1830 foster father remarries, severs relations
with Poe
• 1831 Poe refuses to attend classes and is
court-martialed and expelled from West Point
• 1834 John Allan dies and leaves Poe nothing
• Poe has been living in Boston with his
grandmother, aunt, and cousins

4. • 1836 marries his cousin Virginia just before
her fourteenth birthday
• Up until 1845 Poe publishes many short
stories, but none had resounding success. He
suffered a great deal financially.
• In 1845 Poe publishes “The Raven” which
becomes a national sensation.
• 1847 Virginia dies of tuberculosis, Poe falls
gravely ill.
• 1849 Poe is active as a writer and lecturer.
Stops in Philadelphia sick, confused, and
suffering from persecution mania.

5. • Poe recovers his health and sails for Baltimore,
but he is discovered semiconscious and delirious
a week after his arrival at a tavern. Dies October
7, 1849.
• He is slandered in an obituary notice by Rufus
Griswold. Griswold resented Poe because Poe
made fun of his book (The Poets and Poetry of
America) and also ridiculed him in one of his
short stories, “The Angel of the Odd.” After Poe’s
death, Griswold made it his mission to ruin Poe’s
reputation. Here are some myths that Griswold
encouraged:

6. Poe Myths
• He was an opium addict
• Poe wrote under the influence of opium or
alcohol
• He was expelled from the University of Virginia
(actually money problems)
• He was expelled from West Point for attending
drill in the nude (actually refused to attend class
and church)
• Poe died drunk in a gutter (died in Washington
College Hospital)

7. How did Poe die?
• Theories of Poe’s death and when they were published:
• 1857 Beating
• 1860s Cooping
• 1874 Epilepsy
• 1921 Dipsomania
• 1926 Heart
• 1970 Toxic Disorder
• 1970 Hypoglycemia
• 1977 Diabetes
• 1984 Alcohol Dehydrogenase Deficiency
• 1989 Porphyria
• 1992 Delirium Tremens
• 1996 Rabies
• 1997 Heart
• 1998 Murder (Beating)
• 1999 Epilepsy
• 1999 Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

8. Literary Contributions
• Father of the Detective Genre (“Murders of
the Rue Morgue”)
• Pioneer of Science Fiction (“The Man who was
Used Up”, “Melona Tauta”)
• Master of the Psychological Horror Story
(“The Tell Tale Heart”, “The Black Cat”)
• America’s First Lyric Poet (“The Raven”, “The
Bells”)
• America’s First Great Literary Critic

9. Other Random Poe Facts:
• All of the important women in his life (his biological mother, his
foster mother, and his wife) died from tuberculosis
• While Poe’s biological mother was still alive, she commonly
played Juliet in Romeo & Juliet. Young Edgar would have a seat
in the front row and watch his mother “die” every evening.
• He never actually signed anything ‘Edgar Allan Poe’. His
signature was always E. A. Poe due to the fact that he did not
get along with his foster father, John Allan. He resented John
Allan for being unfaithful to his foster mother while she was
dying of tuberculosis.

10. A Valentine
Edgar Allan Poe
Who is Poe’s secret crush? The answer
is hidden within his Valentine poem

11. For her this rhyme is penned, whose luminous eyes,
Brightly expressive as the twins of Leda,
Shall find her own sweet name, that nestling lies
Upon the page, enwrapped from every reader.
Search narrowly the lines!- they hold a treasure
Divine- a talisman- an amulet
That must be worn at heart. Search well the measure-
The words- the syllables! Do not forget
The trivialest point, or you may lose your labor
And yet there is in this no Gordian knot
Which one might not undo without a sabre,
If one could merely comprehend the plot.
Enwritten upon the leaf where now are peering
Eyes scintillating soul, there lie perdus
Three eloquent words oft uttered in the hearing
Of poets, by poets- as the name is a poet's, too,
Its letters, although naturally lying
Like the knight Pinto- Mendez Ferdinando-
Still form a synonym for Truth- Cease trying!
You will not read the riddle, though you do the best you can do

12. 1 For her this rhyme is penned, whose luminous eyes,
2 Brightly expressive as the twins of Leda,
3 Shall find her own sweet name, that nestling lies
4 Upon the page, enwrapped from every reader.
5 Search narrowly the lines!- they hold a treasure
6 Divine- a talisman- an amulet
7 That must be worn at heart. Search well the measure-
8 The words- the syllables! Do not forget
9 The trivialest point, or you may lose your labor
10 And yet there is in this no Gordian knot
11 Which one might not undo without a sabre,
12 If one could merely comprehend the plot.
13 Enwritten upon the leaf where now are peering
14 Eyes scintillating soul, there lie perdus
15 Three eloquent words oft uttered in the hearing
16 Of poets, by poets- as the name is a poet's, too,
17 Its letters, although naturally lying
18 Like the knight Pinto- Mendez Ferdinando-
19 Still form a synonym for Truth- Cease trying!
20 You will not read the riddle, though you do the best you can do