Nevermore

On January 29, 1845, a poem was published in the pages of The Evening Mirror, a daily New York newspaper. The poem was an instant success, catapulting its author to fame and helping to cement his place as one of the classic American writers. 167 years after its original publication, "The Raven" remains not only Edgar Allan Poe's best-known work, but also one of the most famous poems in American literature.

"The Raven" -- along with such Stephen-King-esque fare as "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Cask of Amontillado," and "The Tell-Tale Heart" -- has cemented Poe in the public consciousness as a somber, depressed, gothic figure, who may or may not have been a little crazy.

But scary stories aside (and they are true masterpieces of psychological horror, don't get me wrong), our modern-day popular perception of Poe is mostly incorrect. An innovator in the genre of science fiction, the inventor of modern-day mystery and detective novels, and a fierce literary critic in his time, Poe gets his morose, gothic reputation primarily at the hands of Rufus Griswold, the man (and literary rival) who wrote Poe's obituary.

In some ways, much of Poe's life is as mysterious as the cryptic puzzles he liked to invent for his mystery tales. The basic facts are clear: he was born in 1809 to parents who were traveling actors, although by the age of three both of his parents had died. He was raised instead by wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan, and his wife Frances Valentine Allan (from whom Poe received his "middle" name). Poe had early designs on becoming a writer and had composed enough poetry by the age of 13 to fill up a publishable manuscript, although it would be another five years before his work would first appear in print.

He attended school at both the University of Virginia and the United States Military Academy at West Point, the latter coming after Poe spent two years enlisted in the United States Army. After the death of Frances Valentine, the woman who'd raised him, Poe fell out completely with John Allan (a man he'd never gotten along with). Plagued by poverty as he struggled to make a living with his writing, he turned to his aunt, Maria Clemm. He would eventually move to Richmond and later bring Maria down to live with him -- along with Maria's daughter, Virginia, who Poe would eventually marry.

Poe's writing began to grow in popularity, but it wasn't until the publication of "The Raven" that his royalties began to grow as well. By now Poe was beginning to attract large crowds to his lectures, as well as gaining attention for being a fierce literary critic. But in 1847, Poe's wife Virginia finally succumbed to the tuberculosis which had plagued her for several years -- tuberculosis also being the cause of death for Poe's mother, brother, and foster mother.

Poe himself would die two years later, and modern-day historians still debate both his living habits of the past few years (was he really an alcoholic?) as well as his still-unknown cause of death. A few days after he died, literary rival Rufus Griswold would pen his scathing -- and patently untrue -- obituary for Poe, painting the author as a raving, drunken womanizer "with no morals or friends." Unfortunately, that (highly) inaccurate picture of Poe is still the one most people hold today.

The truth of the matter is that Poe is a much more complicated figure than that. For my part, I didn't become interested in Poe until I read his short story "The Purloined Letter" in high school and discovered, much to my surprise, that Poe essentially invented the mystery genre. His "consulting detective" character, C. Auguste Dupin, appeared in 1841 in the short story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue." "Murders" is widely held to be the first modern-day detective story, featuring as it does the first-ever fictional detective. (Hence the Mystery Writers of America choosing to name their annual awards "the Edgar" to honor the year's best works of mystery fiction, non-fiction and television.) A far more famous fictional detective owes his existence in large part to Dupin's inspiration -- prompting Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to offer a wry tip of the hat to Poe in one of his stories. When Dr. John Watson makes a mention of Poe's famous detective, Sherlock Holmes responds that, in his own opinion, "Dupin was a very inferior fellow." (Conan Doyle did not share his character's humorous derision, however, and was known to be an admirer of Poe's work.)

Likewise, Poe's short story "The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall" was considered a ground-breaking work of science fiction, telling a tale about space travel and otherworldly aliens -- even if it was meant, at the time, as a satiric piece poking some fun at the scientific community of the day ... as well as serving as a hoax to the readers of Southern Literary Messenger. And again, a future author of far bigger fame in the genre would go on to be inspired by Poe's writing: Jules Verne, who references the story in his own work From the Earth to the Moon.

If Poe's best-remembered stories are his psychological thrillers, his influence on other genres is nonetheless undeniable -- as is his influence on the pop culture consciousness. But Poe himself remains, in large part, a mystery.

It's been three years since the Poe Toaster has last appeared -- the Toaster being a mysterious figure who arrived at Poe's gravesite in Baltimore every year on the author's birthday to leave behind roses and a bottle of cognac. Apparently starting the tradition in the 1950s, the Toaster (or Toasters; there's evidence to suggest that there was more than one) appeared annually until 2009, the year which marked the 200th anniversary of Poe's birthday. But interest in Poe remains, with his stories being continually reinterpreted as graphic novels, fictionalized historical novels, and even a murder mystery film due for release this April (with Poe himself -- appropriately enough -- in the role of detective).

Whatever your opinion of Poe -- and whatever the truth of the man himself -- he'll always be remembered as an author who changed the literary world forever. And that's one fact, at least, that his fans and admirers can be certain of.

You can read more about Poe here at the Edgar Allan Poe Museum's homepage.



-- Post by Ms. B