{"id":130,"date":"2017-12-19T12:23:51","date_gmt":"2017-12-19T17:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/litandthecity\/?p=130"},"modified":"2017-12-19T15:53:30","modified_gmt":"2017-12-19T20:53:30","slug":"edgar-allan-poe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/litandthecity\/2017\/12\/19\/edgar-allan-poe\/","title":{"rendered":"Edgar Allan Poe"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Public Domain photo, courtesy of Wikimedia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809\u00a0\u2013 October 7, 1849) was one of the most famous of the Gothic writers that came about at the end of the American Renaissance. Famous for his short stories and poetry about murders and mystery such as \u201cThe Fall of the House of Usher\u201d and \u201cThe Raven,\u201d his literary criticism and journalistic pieces, which were his major source of income, are often forgotten.[1]<\/a> His criticism, contrary to his contemporaries, focused on how style and construction contributed to a work\u2019s effectiveness or failure.[2]<\/a> Poe\u2019s short stories and poems inarguably employ the very formalist techniques he highlights in his academic works.<\/p>\n

Normally associated with Baltimore, where he lived off-and-on, Poe also had a considerable stay in New York City. After being expelled from West Point in 1931, he moved to the city to publish his third collection of poems, simply titled Poems, satirically dedicated to his former classmates.[3]<\/a> Within a year, he relocated to Baltimore, where he lived with his aunt and her daughter, Virginia. He subsequently moved to them both Richmond and took his cousin as his bride.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

Poe did not return to New York for his longer stint in the city until 1844. Shortly after his arrival, Poe wrote and published \u201cThe Raven\u201d in January 1845. He and Virginia moved around Manhattan for two years while he gave lectures and tried to run a magazine, The Broadway Journal.[5]<\/a> When the magazine and Virginia\u2019s health both declined, Poe and his wife took up residence in pastoral Fordham Village, now the Bronx. While there, he wrote one of his most famous poems, \u201cAnnabel Lee,\u201d as well as \u201cThe Bells\u201d and the short story \u201cThe Cask of Amontillado.\u201d[6]<\/a>[7]<\/a> Virginia died in late 1847, but Poe remained at his cottage until 1849. Indeed, his final years were spent in New York, only going to Baltimore a few months before dying.<\/p>\n

Edgar Allan Poe Cottage<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Left: Engraving of Poe Cottage (image: James Horsey Finken via Library of Congress); \u2028Right: Poe Cottage as it is located in Poe Park in the Bronx (image: Jimmy Stamp via Smithsonian.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Edgar Allan Poe Cottage is located in Poe Park, at Kingsbridge Road and the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. It was built in 1812 as a working house, but served as \u201cbucolic\u201d retreat from the surrounding city for Poe.[8]<\/a> From Poe\u2019s death until the 1890\u2019s, Poe Cottage grew dilapidated and even faced demolition. However, preservation groups and the building\u2019s owner worked together to eventually relocate the farmhouse to a constructed park, Poe Park, in 1913. As the only surviving home from early-19th century Fordham, author for Smithsonian.com Jimmy Stamp brings forth that Poe Cottage is \u201ca testament to preservation – not only of Poe\u2019s history, but of New York\u2019s history\u201d.[9]<\/a>\u00a0Poe Cottage is not short on history or innovation: it was meticulously restored in 2011 in addition to the construction of a new, raven-shaped visitor center.<\/a><\/p>\n

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The Visitor Center neighboring Poe Cottage within Poe Park (image: WSJ.net)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fun Facts:
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