Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809
and when he died on October 7th, 1849 under mysterious circumstances his death
could have been written into a
story or poem by Poe himself.
Alberto Martini
Poe was found semiconscious and in poor physical condition. It was also reported that
the clothes he was wearing were not his own.
On his deathbed he was calling out ” Reynolds ” and his Doctor claims his last words
were ” Lord help my poor soul “.
After Poe died his medical records were lost and so was his death certificate.
Poe’s obituary was written by his his literary rival Rufus Wilmot Griswold and
the pop culture image we have of Poe was created from that obituary.
In a sense we don’t really know Poe at all.
Who he actually was in life and his death are a mystery.
Harry Clarke, “The Premature Burial,” Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1919)
What we have left to ponder when we consider the life and death of Edgar Allen Poe
is A Black Cat, A Raven and A Tell Tale Heart.
If we want to unravel the mystery of Poe we should probably start with them.
Illustration by French impressionist Édouard Manet for the Stéphane Mallarmé translation of “The Raven”, 1875
31 Writing Prompts: VARNISH
