Although more than 200 years have passed since this event, the circumstances of the death of the outstanding writer still remain unclear. On the author’s birthday, we return to his tragic story.
Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston. Like his work, the writer’s life was dark and mysterious. References to his characters can still be found in pop culture, most of whom portray him as an eccentric, a mad artist, or a tormented, dark romantic. In his work, elements of fantasy and horror are most often found, and many consider him the precursor of crime literature. The works he wrote were full of brutality and vivid, surreal descriptions evoking the states of psychosis. As a representative of American romanticism, in line with his current, one can see in him the pain of existence and tiring awareness of the duality of the world.
After the departure of his father and the death of his mother, he was accepted into the family by a merchant – John Allan, who took care of him like a son, although he never formally adopted the boy. Edgar lacked stability – at one point Allan was strict with him, and at the other he pamper his ward to the limit. Their contact finally broke off due to the debts incurred by the writer during his studies. Unable to support himself, he enlisted in the army. In the meantime, he also published his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poetry, which no one paid much attention to.
His writing career was also hampered by the lack of specific provisions on publishing law. Edgar Allan Poe was one of the first to make a living from writing, but was forced to demand payment for his works even after becoming more popular. He was paid only $ 9 for publishing one of his greatest poems, The Raven . He quickly switched to prose, which was much better received than his poetic attempts. One of his first novels, The Manuscript Found in a Bottle, won him a Baltimore newspaper award and also helped him gain useful contacts in the publishing world. In 1838, one of Edgar Allan Poe’s greatest works, The Adventures of Arthur Gordon Pym , was premiered . Poe spent the next few years writing and publishing alongside his wife, Virginia. When she fell ill, the writer threw himself into the whirlwind of writing, and after her death, the author became less and less emotionally stable. The attempt at a new relationship was unsuccessful, which was probably due to problems with alcohol and the writer’s impulsiveness. His works often featured a dying, beautiful woman, which was related to his private life. In his work, he also often referred to philosophy and physics, wanting to explore the mysteries of the world. He is also the creator of the first detective in the history of literature – C. Auguste Dupin.
Although each work by Edgar Allan Poe is unique in its own way, among the classics from his pen we can distinguish works such as The Murder at Rue Morgue, The Mask of Scarlet Death, The Black Cat and The Stolen Letter. He is also the author of novels such as The Journal of Julius Rodman and the previously mentioned The Adventures of Arthur Gordon Pym.
The writer died on October 7, 1849. The circumstances of his death were as dark as the texts he wrote. He was found on the street by Joseph W. Walker, who described his condition as “in great distress and … in need of immediate medical attention.” He was delirious, he didn’t know what was happening to him and where he was. He also suffered from visual, auditory and tactile hallucinations. He didn’t regain full consciousness anymore, so he couldn’t explain exactly what happened or how he got into that state. That night, he was wearing clothes that did not belong to him, and he kept shouting the name “Reynolds.” All his medical files are lost, so to this day it is not known what was the direct cause of his death. Possible options include heart disease, epilepsy, syphilis, meningitis, cholera and rabies.
His death is also associated with a touching, sentimental tradition that has been cultivated for over 50 years. On his birthday, January 19, an unknown person, referred to as Poe Toaster, arrives early in the morning to the writer’s original burial site and makes a toast with cognac in memory of his work, then leaves 3 roses. Apart from paying homage to the author, it is also an accent that gives him another note of mystery, which also accompanies him after his death.