Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 19, 1809, to David Poe Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold. Both were actors and his mother was so determined to act that she did not leave the stage until ten days before his birth, and returned just three weeks later. Poe’s father’s acting career was going down the drain and in the summer of 1809 he left his acting career and his family forever. Elizabeth, better known as Eliza, died just one month before Poe’s third birthday. When she died, she left three children, William Henry, Rosalie, and Edgar Allan Poe. She was only 24 years-old and she had been orphaned, widowed, remarried and deserted all in her short life time.

Edgar Allan Poe, now an orphaned child, was sent to live with John and Fanny Allan, in Richmond, Virginia. Poe had a very hard childhood. At age six he was forced to move to England and was placed in a private school. Just five years later, in 1820, they returned to the United States and Poe continued attending private schools. After graduating high school, Poe registered at the University of Virginia.

While Attending the University of Virginia, he was an active member of the Jefferson Literary Society an

Al Aaraaf, a lyric poem written in response to the night sky, was supposedly written by Poe as a child, but was composed in 1827 while still in the army. The poem is about Nesace who lives on a star named Al Aaraaf. The poem is very hard to comprehend and is said to have many different meanings.

Before Virginia died, while he was caring for her needs, Poe wrote several poems short stories and tales. All of these poems, short stories and tales tell tales of death, denial and struggle to fight death. It is said to be because Poe was in denial of the seriousness of Virginia’s illness. Some of these writings include the gothic tales, “Life in Death,” and “The Mask of the Red Death.”

Once in Boston, Poe went to work writing his first book of poetry, Tamerlane and Other Poems. Once completed in 1827, he anonymously published it. Tamerlane alone was a 1,500 word poem. Today a single copy of Tamerlane and Other Poems is so rare, selling price is $200,000! Shortly after the release of his first book of poems Poe decided to join the U.S. Army where he served a two-year term. He was a member of the First Artillery Regiment in Charleston, South Carolina, enlisted under the name Edgar A. Perry. Once he was out of the Army, Poe went to work on his second book of poetry, Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems, and published it soon after in 1829.

Of all the poems and short stories I have read by Edgar Allan Poe, my favorite so far is his tale The Cask of Amontillado. The Cask of Amontillado begins in a carnival in Italy. The character Montressor, wants to seek revenge on another character, an old friend of his, Fortunato. When Montressor meets up Fortunato, he plans to lead him to his vault and lock him up. Fortunato likes wine and loves to drink, Montressor asked Fortunato if he would come and taste a little bit of the Amontillado (a dry sherry) and make sure it is a high-quality original blend. Montressor leads Fortunato to his underground vault where he has stored the wine. He gets him to drink a lot of wine, enough so that he becomes extremely intoxicated. Once he gets him drunk he locks him inside and seals up the walls so Fortunato can not escape. Once you get to this part in the tale, Poe kind-of leaves the reader asking themselves a lot of questions. It is close to impossible to guess what will happen, and that is one reason Poe’s works are so successful and famous. I won’t spoil the ending for you incase you haven’t read it on your own and you want to, but it is a shocker!

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