Edgar Po

Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet, literary critic, and editor, a representative of American Romanticism. He became most famous for his “dark” tales. Poe was one of the first American writers to create his works in the form of short stories, and he is regarded as the creator of the detective-fantasy genre in literature. His work contributed to the emergence of science fiction.

Poe was born in Boston. His parents, Elizabeth Arnold Poe and David Poe, were actors in a traveling troupe. David Poe left the family when Edgar was still very young; he died shortly afterward. Nevertheless, during their brief life together, he left several children—Edgar had an older brother, William Henry, and a younger sister, Rosalie. Edgar’s mother’s fate was also a short one: she died on December 8, 1811.

Edgar was taken in by Frances and John Allan; they had known the boy’s mother even before her death. With his new family Edgar came to live in Richmond, Virginia. His sister was adopted by another family, and William was taken in by the parents of his deceased father.

Edgar’s childhood was spent in an atmosphere of love and luxury. The Allans had no children of their own, and they treated Edgar with exceptional care. They spared no expense on his upbringing, and although their affairs sometimes went badly (there were occasions when they were even threatened with bankruptcy), the boy did not feel this: he was dressed “like a prince,” and had his own horse and his own dogs. When Edgar was six, the Allans went to England and placed the boy in an expensive boarding school in London, where he studied for five years. On the Allans’ return to the United States in 1820, Edgar entered a college from which he graduated in 1826. To complete his education, Edgar was sent to the university in Richmond, then only recently founded.

Edgar developed early: at five he could read, draw, write, recite, and ride horseback. At school he studied well and acquired a large store of knowledge in literature, especially English and Latin, in general history, in mathematics, and in certain branches of natural science such as astronomy and physics. Physically, Edgar was strong; he took part in all his companions’ pranks and, at