Edgar Allan Poe “I have gone mad, with long intervals of reason.” -Edgar Allan Poe (BrainyQuote)Edgar Allan Poe has become a household name since his poetic debut "The Raven", his best-known poem. However, many are unaware of his haunting past and the emotional turmoil he faced repeatedly throughout his life. From the death of his parents to the rejection of his adoptive father, it seemed like the wannabe Poe could never catch a break. It was Poe's dark and haunting past that influenced the tone of his works to also be very disturbing. Edgar Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1809. He was the second child of traveling actors Elizabeth and David Poe Jr. When Poe was just a year old, his father abandoned their family and reportedly died shortly thereafter. About a year later, Poe's mother, Elizabeth, died of pulmonary tuberculosis, leaving Poe and his siblings orphans. Poe was separated from his siblings and taken in by a prosperous tobacco merchant named John Allan and his wife, giving him the name Edgar Allan Poe. The Allan family never officially adopted Poe. Poe had virtually no interest in the tobacco trade and often wrote lines of poetry on the backs of Allan's ledger sheets. By the age of 13, he had written enough poems to write a book. However, his manager advised him against doing so. Poe moved several times with his new, unaffectionate "father" and family, and attended a difficult boarding school in London. The family returned to the United States and settled in Richmond, Virginia. Young Poe met Elmira Royster and they quickly became engaged. Shortly after...... middle of paper...... of hope and rescue of the main character. Edgar Allan Poe's writing style is very dark, mysterious and disturbing. Death seems to be a recurring theme, as does visiting the afterlife. His hypnotic and captivating rhymes have become his trademark. He played with and mastered suspense, terror and brought to life nightmarish visions of death and tragedy. Although many of his works have no obvious subject matter and are open to interpretation, it is easy to say that he drew inspiration from all the losses and tragedies that dominated his life. For example, his mother's death, his father's abandonment, his fiancée's rejection, his adoptive father's disownment, his wife's diagnosis and death, chronic alcohol problems, and constant feelings of loss and rejection were all apparent throughout his poems. Although Poe had a sad life because of many defeats,