10 facts about edgar allan poe

Famous for his horror tales and melancholic poetry, Poe was also an early pioneer of the short story form and other literary genres — such as detective and science fiction. Edgar and his two siblings were separated.

When was edgar allan poe born

He was sent to live with John Allan, a wealthy merchant, and his wife Frances, in Richmond, Virginia. Meanwhile, his younger sister, Rosalie, was adopted by another couple from Richmond, and his older brother, Henry, was sent to live with their paternal grandparents in Baltimore. Byron had a massive influence on Edgar, not just on his early work, but also on the image he projected to the world.

After attending a prestigious boarding school in Richmond, and even moving briefly with the Allans to England and Scotland as a boy, Edgar went off to study at the University of Virginia. To make matters worse, Edgar returned to Richmond to find that his childhood sweetheart, Elmira, was engaged to someone else. However, they would rekindle their romance later on in life.

Edgar allan poe interesting facts about his childhood

Over the next couple of years, he rose to the rank of sergeant major. From there, Edgar went to the U. Military Academy at West Point. Instead, Poe became extremely neglectful of his duties and was court-martialled and expelled from the academy. While Edgar had written extensively as a child, he anonymously published his first book of poetry, Tamerlane and Other Poems , at the age of This also led to an editing job for the Southern Literary Messenger back in Richmond, where he cut his teeth as a scathing critic and reviewer.

Throughout his life, Edgar Allan Poe made plenty of enemies, many of which were a direct result of his unflinching work as a critic and a reviewer.