I am doing a research paper over the parallelism between Poe's life and writings and I need some sites and info. By May 10, 2001. Please help me ! Thank you! -----Rachel

-- Anonymous, April 21, 2001

Answers

hey...i don't know much about his prose, but in his poetry, Helen (from "To Helen") was his ideal woman, symbolizing his mother who died when he was two, and his first love, a Mrs. Stanard. His poem, The Raven, was written during a time in his life when he thought any happiness in his life was over, hence the repeated use of "nevermore". Annabel Lee was written about his child bride, Virginia Clemm, who died earlier. Tamerlane was written out of his heartbreak following the termination of his engagement to Elmira Royster. They had planned to get married, but their letters to each other were intercepted by Mr. Royster, her father. He married her off to a Mr. Shelton. After he died, they met again, planned to marry, but he died 2 months later. Eldorado was written during the gold rush to California. To My Mother was written by Edgar to Virginia's mother, because she took him into her home when he had nothing, and she cared for him as if he was her son. For Annie could possibly be written for one of his many loves, Annie Richmond. Edgar showed a horror and great fear of death in his early years, and later wrote The Masque of the Red Death. His wife, his brother, and his mother all died of 'the red death', tuberculosis. If you need more info, I found the book "The Extraordinary Mr. Poe" very helpful. I hope you can use some of this information.

-- Anonymous, April 22, 2001

hey, sorry...I forgot to give you the author's name! It's Wolf Mankowitz.

-- Anonymous, April 22, 2001

To add some depth to the very insightfull explination above, I will elaborate on what was said about 'The Raven' which was surely EAP's most famous poem. I havn't got the poem in front of me and havn't read it for some time so I'm very much writing from memory and with what little knowledge of Poe I have. The Raven was very autobiographical and very reflective of Poe's state of mind. It was written towards the end of his relativly short life, at a time when he felt essentially his life was over, hence 'nevermore'. When he wrote the poem he was deeply depressed and under the influence of drugs. This is all evident in the grim depiction of life and the world, using phrases such as 'the night's plutonian shore', taken from a name for the underworlds. Poe having been very fearfull of death, had become pre-occupied and evidently obsessed with it. In another poem wrote-'thank heavens, the crisis, the danger is past and the lingering illness is is over at last, and the fever called living is conquered at last'..........I have to go, only had five minutes, for a more in depth analysis, im sure the library will have ample resources, or reply If you want.......goodbye!

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2001

The best book(and common in libraries here at least)is Silverman's "A Mournful and Lasting Remembrance" that is a through biography relating Poe's works to his own life down to small details.

-- Anonymous, April 26, 2001