Edgar Allan Poes contributions to American literature have become increasingly more prominent as the years have passed. As short fiction has become a more accepted genre in literary circles, Poes theories are studied with more passion. Although he lived a rather melancholy life, Poe did experience moments of joy, and desired to capture the beauty through poetic form. Indeed, what he left behind for the literary world was his gifted genus, revealed through his poetry, fiction, and criticism. The darkness that seems to surround Poes life began as an infant.
Poe was born January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the second son of David and Eliza Poe, but soon after he was born, David abandoned the family. Then two years after that occurrence, Eliza died from tuberculosis. After her death, Edgar, his little sister, Rosalie, and his brother, William, were separated. While William was sent to live with his grandparents, and Rosalie was sent to a family in Richmond, Virginia, Poe moved to live with John and Fannie Allan (Silverman 1-15). John Allan was a well-known businessman, and Poe was no longer surrounded in poverty.
John made sure that Poe was given a good education, and when living in England with the Allans, he went to private academies. The then moved back to the states, and Edgar enrolled at the University of Virginia in 1826. When he was there, he spent much of his money, and soon found himself in debt. He asked Mr. Allan to pay for it, but he refused, because he assumed that the debt was due to Poes constant gambling and consumption of alcohol (Silverman 29-38). It can be assumed that the greatest contributor to Poes disturbance was his addiction to alcohol.
His foster familys status made this problem a shameful vise, and a source of conflict. Poe used drinking as an escape of sorts, and his life was greatly affected by the substance. It disrupted his writing, his first engagement, and his time with his foster family. After he left home, he tried to make a life for himself in Boston. He was reunited with his brother, but at the young age of 24 he died which upset Poe very much. His writing became more insistent after being rejecting constantly by newspapers. Soon afterwards, he married his own cousin, Virginia, who was his symbol as the perfect woman.
In 1837, he moved to New York, where competed with some of the best contemporary writers of that time. Just when his life and writing seemed to be becoming constant and somewhat stable, his wife died of tuberculosis, and this shattered Poe. His writing instantly became dark and dreary, but he used the death of his wife as inspiration to write of death and love and reunion. His worked continued to grow, and people began to notice it. But it was not until after his death on October 7, 1849 that his writing was given the recognition that it deserved (Hart 521-2).
Throughout his short-lived life, Edgar Allan Poe compiled a collection of literature, poetry, short fiction, and literary criticism. Some people think that some of Poes criticism has endured more than his short fiction and poetry. Hart writes, There have been strongly divergent evaluations of Poes literary significance, from Emersons dismissal of him as the the jingle man and Lowells three-fifths genus and two fifths, sheer fudge to Yeats declaration, always and for all the lands a great lyric poet (522). The criticism of his poetry and writing was a direct criticism on his theories, as he implemented his theories in all of his writing.
For example, Poe believed that length was extremely important. Poe once wrote that, If any literary work is too long to read at one sitting, we must be content to dispense with the immensely important effect derivable from unity of impression- for, if two sittings is required, the affairs of the world interfere, and like everything like totality is at once destroyed (Hart 129). Thus, length was the very key to enjoyment of a poem or a short story. Unity was also very important in Poes writing. As Hart explains, The single unifying factor in all of Poes works is the concept of unity itself (11).
He was very concerned with the relationship of words and their effect on the reader. Poe drove himself to create a dream world, one self-contained within writing itself, without the help of external forces. He did this because he did not want his writing to be dependant on any outside variable. Now that short fiction and poetry have become an accepted genre, Poes theories have become even more important. When creating, Poe believed, that one should use an inverse approach to writing. He thought that the writer should have one single effect, which motivated the entire piece of literature.
He thought that the best approach to this would be by coming up with an ending first, and then go about finding the means in which to achieve it. He once stated that, A skillful literary artist has constructed a tale. If wise, he has not fashioned his thoughts to accommodate his incidents: but having conceived, with deliberate care, a certain unique or single effect to be wrought out, he then inverts such incidents- he then combines such events as may best aid him in establishing this preconceived effect (May 124).
Poe’s poetry uses a theme that appears to deal primarily with his fear of loss, not of himself, but of loved ones. In many of the verses, he refuses to deny the finality of death. Perhaps it is because he sees a perpetuation of life in the remembrance of those departed. In effect, death simply becomes a barrier that only temporarily separates the grieving survivor from the more fortunate departed. In his poem “Spirits of the Dead” for example, Poe appears to bemoan the idea that in life. He believes that only the most delicate bond holds the soul to earthly existence and that the nature of that existence is one of isolation.
Therefore, the greatest intimacy possible, while living, is the physical intimacy from love of the heart. In death, the barrier is overcome and the soul is freed from this earthly isolation. Then, and only then can the supreme intimacy be fulfilled with the loved; one, soul to soul, for eternity. As Poe clearly spelled out in his poem “Annabel Lee”… “And neither the angels in Heaven above Nor the demons down under the sea, Can ever dissever my soul from the soul Of the beautiful Annabel Lee” This theme carries through to some of his other poems as well.
Although the poem Dream Within a Dream has many different interpretations, it can be said to fit this idea. The first eleven lines open the poem and allude to thoughts of departure or change from what is, to what he wishes it to be. Here, he refers to the transition of the state of slumber to the conscious waking state. He speaks of his life thus far as if it had been a dream. Poe questions himself as well as the reader when he asks if dreams will ever be fulfilled. He wonders if all our hopes are merely a fantasy to be seen or enjoyed only in our dreams.
It is a wish that is to remain unfulfilled except in our imaginative unconscious state where reality places no limitations or boundaries upon our hopes. In the last thirteen lines he refers to the conscious state or reality. The first two lines suggest that he has reached a point in his turbulent life, perhaps a turning point and one that he has envisioned in his hope filled dreams. He speaks of all the things in his life of any substance or significance, things that he values most above all else. He goes on to speak of his inability to achieve happiness and of the inevitable loss of his most treasured possessions or, perhaps relationships.
Poe speaks further of how little he has asked of life and his sorrow for their loss. He even goes on to ask God why he cannot hold on to these treasures and why it is that he cannot savor at least one true cherished possession. Finally, he asks once again, whether it is fantasy that is only a dream, or is it that reality itself is but a dream as well. Edgar Allan Poe always seemed to desire creating another world, an artificial creation, but in this process conveys the beauty he always craved for.
Poes life was one full of despair and depression, which later lead him to create literary masterpieces. Perhaps it was this state of mind which made him appear fearless, allowing him to voice his opinion in spite of the criticism directed at him. In this day and age, his words are to be regarded with a newfound significance, for literature has become a genre in and of itself. His theories on writing will continue to be studied for generations to come. Though his place in literary circles was uncertain in his own time, his place in the literary cannon is undeniable today.
