EDGAR ALLAN POEJANUARY 19, 1809 – OCTOBER 7, 1849

Catherine Leung, Kate Young, Tiffany Xiao, Josephine Qiu

TABLE OF CONTENTS• Part II: Personal Biography of Poet• Part III: Historical/ Social Background• Part IV: Two Poems• Part V: Analysis• Part VI: Explanation/ Comparison• Part VII: Significance• Part VIII: Original Work• Part IX: Bibliography

Part II

Personal Biography of Poet

•Born in Boston•Traveling actor parents, dirt poor•Mother: Elizabeth Arnold Poe•Father: David Poe Jr.•Age 2: Father left him•Age 3: His mother dies of tuberculosis (December 8, 1811)•Split up siblings (Henry to grandparents, Rosalie adopted by the Mackenzie family, Edgar adopted by John and Frances ) •Comfortable, dad was successful merchant•Close with mom but dad hated him (he disapproved becoming a writer)•Move to England, got good education (5 years) •Back in Richmond in 1824 wrote his first poem •1826, went to University of Virginia• Good student, w/ bad gambling problem • Dad would not pay so he left them for Baltimore• Began to drink + went in debt• Lost $2k

CHILDHOOD

FAMILY

• Two siblings, Rosalie (little sister) Henry (older brother)

• Birth parents : Elizabeth Arnold Poe & David Poe Jr. (both died of tuberculosis)

• Adopted parents: John and Frances Allan (Frances Allan died of tuberculosis)– John Allan disowned him after marrying his

second wife (Louisa Patterson)

• Married Virginia Allan (died of tuberculosis)

Love Life

• Edgar Allan Poe married his cousin Virgina when he was twenty-seven and she was thirteen. People say their relationship was more like a sibling relationship. They moved around a lot because of Edgar’s work. On January 1842, Virginia contracts tuberculosis and died five years later. – He could not cope with her death and turned to

alcohol. He was despondent, but somehow able to continue writing his horror stories.

Education

• Elementary school in Richmond, Virigina• Finished it in England• United States Military Academy – (1830–1831)

• University of Virginia – (1826–1826)

Career• Generally was poor during all of his career• Worked in the military (May 27, 1827) - February 8, 1831

– He was underage when he joined, so he lied about his age and name.– He purposely got himself kicked off of the military later on.

• Worked as a publisher– His brother’s death inspired him to pursue a serious career in writing – At first he began with small books that attracted no attention. – Attempted to write prose (normal writing) and wrote a drama Politician– Worked on many newspapers and magazines and improved their

number of viewers.– Wrote many journals.

Works

• The Raven – his most famous poem. About a man becoming mad after the lost of his love.

• The Murders in the Rue Morgue – considered as first modern detective story and a masterpiece of mystery.

• The Tell-tale Heart – a short story with terror and horror.

• The Fall of the House of Usher – A story about madness.

Fun Facts

• No one knows how he died. He was found sick on a street wearing someone else’s clothes, and spoke deliriously afterwards. He died a few days later.

• He joined the army under the false name “Edgar A. Perry”

• Edgar Allan Poe was an alcoholic, he was very addicted to alcohol and joined alcohol anonymous.

• He loved to play games with Virginia on their lawn.

Part III

Historical/ Social Background

Historical/Social Background•Edgar Allan Poe wrote at the time when the United States was going through “rapid economical and geographical expansion.” In the mid-nineteenth century of the expanding United States, the most popular authors were those who wrote adventure fiction.•Poe was one of the first authors to produce a distinct form of American literature. It was particularly in his short stories where he sought after tales of horror based on mood and language.•Although Edgar Allan Poe lived in the time of the rapidly growing Unites States, his poetry and literature was mostly affected by the events in his own life.

Part IV

Two Poems

A Haunted PalaceIn the greenest of our valleysBy good angels tenanted,Once a fair and stately palace-Radiant palace-reared its head.In the monarch Thought's dominion-It stood there!Never seraph spread a pinionOver fabric half so fair!

Banners yellow, glorious, golden,On its roof did float and flow,(This-all this-was in the oldenTime long ago,)And every gentle air that dallied,In that sweet day,Along the ramparts plumed and pallid,A winged odor went away.

Wanderers in that happy valley,Through two luminous windows, sawSpirits moving musically,To a lute's well-tuned law,Round about a throne where, sitting(Porphyrogene!)In state his glory well-befitting,The ruler of the realm was seen.

And all with pearl and ruby glowingWas the fair palace door,Through which came flowing, flowing, flowing,And sparkling evermore,A troop of Echoes, whose sweet dutyWas but to sing,In voices of surpassing beauty,The wit and wisdom of their king.

But evil things, in robes of sorrow,Assailed the monarch's high estate.(Ah, let us mourn!-for never morrowShall dawn upon him desolate!)And round about his home the gloryThat blushed and bloomed,Is but a dim-remembered storyOf the old time entombed.

And travellers, now, within that valley,Through the red-litten windows seeVast forms, that move fantasticallyTo a discordant melody,While, like a ghastly rapid river,Through the pale doorA hideous throng rush out foreverAnd laugh-but smile no more.

97979797

97979797

97979797

9797977

97979797

97979797

Syllable Pattern of 9,7,9,7...ABCBDEDE

ABABCDCD

ABABCDCD

ABABCDCD

ABABCDCD

ABABCDCD

End Rhyme Pattern ABABCDCD

Trochaic tetrameter

Take this kiss upon the brow!And, in parting from you now,Thus much let me avow-You are not wrong, who deemThat my days have been a dream;Yet if hope has flown awayIn a night, or in a day,In a vision, or in none,Is it therefore the less gone?All that we see or seemIs but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roarOf a surf-tormented shore,And I hold within my handGrains of the golden sand-How few! yet how they creepThrough my fingers to the deep,While I weep- while I weep!O God! can I not graspThem with a tighter clasp?O God! can I not saveOne from the pitiless wave?Is all that we see or seemBut a dream within a dream?

A Dream Within a DreamAAABBCCDDBB

AABBCCCDDEEFFRHYME SCHEME: NINE COUPLETS,

TWO TERCETS, DELAYED RHYME

Delayed Rhyme AABBCCDD...

Part V

Analysis

The Haunted Palace

• It’s line structure is a 7-9 syllable • Cross rhythm rhyme: abab• Language: comparing a palace to the head of a

man

A Dream Within A Dream

• Stanza form: 9 couples, 2 tercets• Rhythm: Delayed rhyme• Language: describes emotions

*Written year of his death*

PART vi

Explanation/ Comparison

• Poe compares a palace to a man’s features maybe a king.

• The first verse talks about a beautiful palace and how it was just there so maybe a great king ran the place. The next verse talks about how wanderers come across the palace and think it was well managed by the king because of the music and glory. However, near the end of the poem, it talks about how the king is getting less active and how the old things starts to remain a memory. He says how the travelers see the palace as cursed and all the people and singers in the palace are just spirits dancing to a discordant melody. They can tell something's wrong with the king.

THE HAUNTED PALACE

A Dream Within A DreamTake this kiss upon the brow!And, in parting from you now,Thus much let me avow-You are not wrong, who deemThat my days have been a dream;Yet if hope has flown awayIn a night, or in a day,In a vision, or in none,Is it therefore the less gone?All that we see or seemIs but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roarOf a surf-tormented shore,And I hold within my handGrains of the golden sand-How few! yet how they creepThrough my fingers to the deep, While I weep- while I weep!O God! can I not graspThem with a tighter clasp?O God! can I not saveOne from the pitiless wave?Is all that we see or seemBut a dream within a dream?

he’s giving a kiss to the person because he’s leaving

he’s telling the person they’re not wrong for

saying hisdays were a dreamhis hope is gone:

it doesnt matter what time it is if it’s a vision for the future or not is it all fake?he’s at the beach, the beach has A LOT of waves,

hence, the roar and surf-tormented he’s holding sand in his hand

there’s very little and they’re seeping through

his fingers very fast. he’s crying because he can’t stop them from

doing so, even with a tight grip. he’s can’t stop the waves

that don’t feel bad for it from taking the sand away. is everything that’s happening and everything

they think is happening a dream?

he’s giving a kiss to the person because he’s leaving

he’s telling the person

they’re not wrong for saying his days were a dream

his hope is gone:

it doesnt matter what it is

if it’s a vision for the future or not

is it all fake?

he’s at the beach, the beach has A LOT of waves, hence, the roar and surf-tormented he’s holding sand in his hand

there’s very little and they’re seeping through his fingers very fast. he’s crying because he can’t stop them from doing so, even with a tight grip. he’s can’t stop the waves that don’t feel bad for it from taking the sand away.

is everything that’s happening and everything they think is happening a dream?

The Haunted palace vs. A Dream Within A Dream

The Haunted Palace

• Tone changes• Compares a palace to a

humans head

A Dream Within A Dream

• Published year of Poe‘s Death

• Asks if life is really a dream

Part Vii Significance

The Haunted Palace & A Dream Within a Dream

• The Hunted Palace– In 1845, Poe had a hard time selling this

poem just because it was found impossible to comprehend

– Then in 1849, the poem was then published in the issue of the Baltimore Museum.

• A Dream within a Dream– Published in 1849

Part VIII

Original Work

Oh how I despised lifeEveryone, everythingEvery bit angered meOh the hatred it could bringEvery night I ponderedOn why it is soWhy? Why? I hated I didn’t knowI wondered if it was curableThis hatred, this curseOh I feel the hatred nowThe hatred in this verseMy lord! Have mercy!What have I done to bestow This hatred, this loathingWhether it be friend or foe!My mind went blankBut instead of white, it’s blackPitch, no, even greater than pitch I felt my body go slack I woke to a roomA room of pure whiteMy hand chained to the bedMy body screaming in frightMy voice took over“Where am I? Where!”But a shadow of silence loomed over meNo one answered, no one cared“I guess it isn’t hate…”I thought with a single tearNo, it was never hateI just hated what I fear.

Hatred

I ache for the heart of the man I love,Its sinister beating in the dark, silent night, The hundreds of eerie beats I never get sick of,The source of all my terrible delight,The gift of living sent from the brutal above,When this man with his beating heart held me sickeningly tight,His comforting love I could never get rid of,I stole his heart with all my might,He gasped like a mourning dove,

It’s bleeding bloody red and bright. I grasp in my hand the heart of the man I love,

Heart Wrenching Love

(Not) A Dream

The sound of music against the windows,I look out and see which way the wind blows.Getting up off the bedThese thoughts go through my head:

“To jump out or to not jump out, Back and forth, my hands wander about, Fingers crawling to the ledge, Legs deciding whether to jump off the edge”

The sound of voices in my mind,I stand up, trying not to look behind.Feet dancing over to the window,Praying for the wind to blow,“Goodbye.”

AloneI trusted the wrong soulWhen I think of the pastIt feels like I’m buried in coalAnd I feel like an outcast.

It feels like the endWhen I’m left aloneWithout a friendTo have of my own.

However the beginning’s just startedAnd it’s better than my old lifeI start to be more open heartedSo I wont get stuck in a knife.

Part IX

Bibliography

Works Cited

Bloom, Harold. Edgar Allan Poe, modern critical views. New York: Chelsea House, 1985. Print.

Bloom, Harold. Edgar Allan Poe. New York: Chelsea House, 1985. Print.

Bloom, Harold. Edgar Allan Poe comprehensive research and study guide. Broomall, PA: Chelsea House

Publishers, 1999. Print.

Bloom, Harold. Edgar Allan Poe. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2002. Print.

Frye, Steven. The tales of Edgar Allan Poe. Pasadena, Calif.: Salem Press, 2010. Print.

Poe, Edgar Allan, and Eric W. Carlson. The fall of the house of Usher. Columbus, Ohio: Merrill, 1971. Print.

Russel, P. Craig, and Jay Geldhof. The fall of the house of Usher. Columbus, Ohio: Merrill, 1971. Print.

http://www.enotes.com/tell-tale-heart/historical-context

http://www.biography.com/people/edgar-allan-poe-9443160

http://www.shmoop.com/poe/childhood.html

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