In the early 1800s, the world was looking for an author that could do it all: write books, short stories, and poems. In 1809, that amazing author was born. Edgar Allan Poe was his name. His life was a big struggle with deaths in his family and debt he needed to owe. His love life strained, with him not having a long lasting relationship. However, he was saved by his fantastic writing. Some of his amazing stories were the best and still are now.

Poe was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston, MA. His original name was Edgar Poe. His parents, David Poe Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins (both actors), were gone before Poe could reach the age of three. His brother William died young, and his sister Rosalie went insane. His original family was leaving him faster, much faster, than he had hoped. Poe got taken in by a merchant, John Allan and his wife Frances. That is how he got his middle name. He went to a boarding school in England for his early education. When he got older, he came back to Richmond and attended a certain number of private schools and studied Latin and prose. Poe then attended the University of Virginia. He attended from 1825 to 1827, until he got expelled from college because he got caught gambling. The time that Poe was growing up wasn’t the best. It made his life even worse than it had to be.

Poe wanted to join the army in 1827, but was too young. So what he did was he gave himself a new identity. His new name was Edgar A. Perry. His fake age was twenty-two. “Perry” was in the U.S. Army for two years until he left for West Point Military Academy in 1930. During his time there, his step-mother, Frances, died of tuberculosis, the same disease that killed most of his family. With Poe now in debt, he moved in with his Aunt Clemm in 1831. He was also with his cousin Virginia, whom Poe cared very much about. Poe hoped that the little family he had left could help him through these tough times.

Edgar Allan Poe wasn’t the person who was good at long term relationships. His first engagement was to a lady be the name of Sarah Elmire Royster. Poe thought it would be okay, but the engagement got broken. Then, when Poe was a tad older, he married his 13 year-old cousin, Virginia. During his only marriage, Poe was experiencing the best time of his life. It seemed as those terrible years he had before Virginia were gone. However, a terrible tole struck Poe. His beloved Virginia broke a blood vessel while singing in 1842. She then struggled for a good five years until her death of tuberculosis in 1847. Poe was completely devastated that the only thing that made him happy was now gone off the face of the Earth. Poe tried to look for a new spouse. He got re-engaged to Sarah Elmire Royster in 1849, but didn’t live to see the day of another marriage. Poe was found on October 7, 1849 on a Baltimore street semi-conscious. He was brought to a nearby hospital, but it was too late. The great Edgar Allan Poe was dead of tuberculosis.

Edgar Allan Poe rarely wrote any books. His literary life was dedicated to writing short stories and poems. One of his few books was Narrative of Arthur Gordon Plym which was published in 1838. It was Poe’s longest tale. Some of Poe’s short stories included: “The Black Cat”, “The Tell-Tale Heart”, and “The Masque of the Red Death”. His most famous short story was “The Fall of the House of Usher” that came out in 1839. All of these short stories were about horror and suspense. In 1831, Poe came out with the poems “The Sleeper” and “The City in the Sea”. But his best poem came out in 1845. It was called “The Raven”. This is the poem Poe is most famous for. Whatever he wrote, the story or poem was brilliant.

Edgar Allan Poe never had a good life. The only good time was with his wife, Virginia. Poe loved to write and that is what he is most famous for. His death marked the end of a great writer’s career. Poe died, but the work he has done will never.