12 questions · Literature
Edgar Allan Poe, born in Boston in 1809, the child of two actors, lost his mother at two and grew up as the foster child of the merchant John Allan in Richmond: hence the middle name. The relationship with his foster father shattered over gambling debts and pride; there followed a restless life as the first American to attempt to live by writing alone: as a feared critic, magazine editor and master of the short form: perpetually on the edge of poverty. What Poe left behind founded several genres at once: with 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue' (1841) and his razor-sharp detective C. Auguste Dupin he invented the detective story: Arthur Conan Doyle confessed that without Dupin there would be no Sherlock Holmes. His tales of terror ('The Fall of the House of Usher', 'The Tell-Tale Heart', with the murderer betrayed by the imagined beating of his victim's heart, or 'The Pit and the Pendulum') perfected psychological horror. And in 1845 a poem made him famous overnight: 'The Raven', in which the uncanny bird on the bust of Pallas croaks a single word at the grieving narrator: 'Nevermore'. Even that did not make Poe rich: the fee was about nine dollars. His early death fits the work's darkness: in 1849 Poe was found delirious on a Baltimore street in someone else's clothes; four days later the 40-year-old died in hospital. The cause: drink, illness, even election-fraud gangs?: remains unexplained to this day. Did you know that for decades an unknown figure left cognac and three roses at Poe's grave every year on his birthday? The 'Poe Toaster' last appeared in 2009: another riddle.
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Nevermore
The 1845 poem made Poe famous overnight: the fee was about nine dollars.
💡 Did you know? “The Raven” made Poe instantly famous in 1845: yet he was reportedly paid only nine dollars for it.
detective story
His detective C. Auguste Dupin solves the case by pure logic: the model for all master detectives.
💡 Did you know? Poe's detective Dupin is the ancestor of all later sleuths: even Sherlock Holmes is in his debt.
Dupin
Conan Doyle confessed: without Dupin there would be no Sherlock Holmes.
💡 Did you know? Dupin solves his cases by pure deduction: the founding principle of the classic detective story.
the beating heart
The narrator hears it ever louder beneath the floorboards: until he confesses the deed.
💡 Did you know? The murderer believes he hears his victim's heart still beating under the floorboards and gives himself away.
The Fall of the House of Usher
House and family collapse together: psychological horror brought to perfection.
💡 Did you know? The Gothic tale of the crumbling House of Usher has been filmed and set to music many times.
short story
His theory: a story must be readable in one sitting and aim at a single effect.
💡 Did you know? Poe was the first to theorise the short story: every word must work toward a single unified effect.
to live by writing
A feared critic and magazine editor, he nonetheless spent his life on the edge of poverty.
💡 Did you know? Poe was among the first to try to live solely by writing: yet remained almost always destitute.
Baltimore
Found on the street, confused and in someone else's clothes: the cause of death remains unexplained.
💡 Did you know? Poe's death remains a mystery: he was found delirious in someone else's clothes; the cause was never established.
cognac and three roses
Every year on Poe's birthday, 19 January: the unknown figure last appeared in 2009.
💡 Did you know? For over 70 years an unknown figure left cognac and three roses on Poe's birthday: until he stopped coming in 2009.
from his foster father John Allan
The actors' child lost his parents early: the bond with his foster father shattered over gambling debts and pride.
💡 Did you know? After his mother's early death the merchant family Allan took him in: hence his middle name.
Boston
The child of two actors: he grew up in Richmond, Virginia.
💡 Did you know? Poe lost both parents as a toddler and grew up a foster child: an early loss that runs through his work.
Foto: Unknown author; most likely George C. Gilchrest, Samuel P. Howes, James M. Pearson, or Andrew J. Simpson, all of Lowell, MA · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (1809 to 1849) was an American writer and poet. A master of the horror tale and inventor of the detective story, he shaped several genres at once.
💡 Did you know? With “Rue Morgue” Poe invented the detective story: Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie would later build on it.
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