"Thy soul shall find itself alone
'Mid dark thoughts of the grey tomb-stone;
Not one, of all the crowd, to pry
Into thine hour of secrecy..."
These very words were from the poem "Spirits of the Dead" by Edgar Allan Poe. I remember my older sister, Sarah, constantly talking about Poe and his fascinating life. I wanted to learn more about Poe myself, so I chose my biography on him.
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston Massachusetts January 19,1809. He was born to Eliza and David Poe, who were actors. Both parents would go on many theatrical tour, Poe and his sister, Rosalie, were left with his grandparents. A nurse helped take care of him. The nurse fed the children alcohol for them to grow strong and to put them to sleep whenever she got tired. Poe started his alcoholism when he was only five weeks old.
Eliza was a very good actress compared to David, who did poorly in acting.
Edgar Allan Poe Museum (Richmond, Virginia)
Alleged bedroom of Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe at the...
English: The Marriage bond of Edgar Allan Poe and ...When Poe was two, David had run away from the criticism of his acting. Because of this, he drank alcohol and soon died from it. A year later, Eliza grew very poor and ill, from the disease of Tuberculosis. She died at the age of 24, her children surrounding her death bed. Edgar was left alone an orphan, and came upon John and Fanny Allan whom were tobacco merchants. Technically, he was never adopted, but he accepted the middle name, "Allan". At age of fifteen, Poe loved poetry, and was able to publish two small volumes. "The requiem for the loveliest dead that ever died so young." Were the words Edgar wrote about a female.
The collage Edgar Allan Poe went to was The University of Virginia. Soon he was expelled from the collage, because he didn't...