I know that Poe's wife died and he took it really hard. hoew did this affect his writing?

-- Anonymous, February 20, 2003

Answers

Forall the turmoil you can still see a consistency in theme and professionalism but as a personal reflection let me name a few changes. Bitter reassesssment of his works in face a this crushing loss and real(not idealized) sorrow. "Hop Frog" shows a real savage self-satire that almost wants to end the whole story career. "The "Lighthouse" fragment emphasizes incredible isolation and the menace of doom. "Annabel Lee" though an attempt to get back to work, life and love shows by tone and detail alone the turmoil still roiling his life. His attempts to form a new magazine(some hints of a vengeful Tomahawk Poe reborn, contradictory, bloated plans including writers he had warred with), new directions in writing and new relationships, his bad health, poverty and panic make any answer to this questionm just as chaotic and mixed. Unfortunately Poe had an impossible time dealing with any loss and it was only a short time when his attenuated health gave out in mysterious circumstances. THis brief period resembles a flameout that also produced some of Poe's best and most passionate poems. Not to forget that Poe was not raving. He was very career oriented in his projects like "The Bells" and "Annabel Lee."

It is hard to note Poe's troubles and strong writings AND hard life without giving a false impression. Poe was still carrying on professionally in many ways. We tend to see only the tragic and dramatic or the gloomy prosaic. As in perceiving any person's life we scale our response between the extremes of drooling romanticism and harsh condemnation. In between these fantasies, somewhere,is mundane reality, even for writers who overstimulate one extreme or the other in their opus.

-- Anonymous, February 21, 2003