Edgar Allan Poe Accomplishments

Throughout the years, Edgar Allen Poe has remained one of the most distinguished of poets. Poe essentially dominated dark romantic literature, even though his last piece dates back 16 decades. Despite his popularity, many don't know his story, or the difficulties he went through. During his lifetime, Poe “lost [his] mother to consumption and [his] father to desertion, ... turned to gambling [during his college days], ... [was] led to total estrangement,” (YourDictionary 1) and much more. ******
Born January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts, Poe already had a stressful upbringing when nearly three years after his birth, both of his parents passed away. Soon after, John and Frances Allan, whom he inherited his middle name from, took him to Richmond, Virginia and raised him as their own. With plenty of wealth to go around, Poe grew into a lavish childhood, eventually going to the University of Virginia in 1826. Sadly, quickly after joining the college, Poe was forced to leave when his gambling debts grew enormously and he couldn’t pay them off on his own. Poe was devastated and decided to take

Poe also took a permanent leave from the army at that time, as his foster mother had died, and he had received an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Quickly after joining the prestigious school, Poe intentionally dropped out, leaving the reputable institute to “[buy] out a volume of Poems [in New York], containing several masterpieces, ... [before returning] to Baltimore, where he began to write stories” (Britannica 1). 1835, six years later, after publishing several more pieces, Poe became the editor of the Southern Literary Messenger, where he soon made a name for himself as a “critical reviewer” (Britannica 1). The next year, 1836, Poe married his 13-year old cousin, Virginia