Значение слова POE в Литературной энциклопедии

POE

EDGAR ALLAN (1809-1849).-Poet and writer of tales, was _b._ at Boston, where his parents, who were both actors, were temporarily living. He was left an orphan in early childhood in destitute circumstances, but was adopted by a Mr. Allan of Richmond, Virginia. By him and his wife he was treated with great indulgence, and in 1815 accompanied them to England, where they remained for five years, and where he received a good education, which was continued on their return to America, at the Univ. of Virginia. He distinguished himself as a student, but got deeply into debt with gaming, which led to his being removed. In 1829 he _pub._ a small vol. of poems containing _Al Araaf_ and _Tamerlane_. About the same time he proposed to enter the army, and was placed at the Military Academy at West Point. Here, however, he grossly neglected his duties, and fell into the habits of intemperance which proved the ruin of his life, and was in 1831 dismissed. He then returned to the house of his benefactor, but his conduct was so objectionable as to lead to a rupture. In the same year P. _pub._ an enlarged ed. of his poems, and in 1833 was successful in a competition for a prize tale and a prize poem, the tale being the _MS. found in a Bottle_, and the poem _The Coliseum_. In the following year Mr. Allan _d._ without making any provision for P., and the latter, being now thrown on his own resources, took to literature as a profession, and became a contributor to various periodicals. In 1836 he entered into a marriage with his cousin Virginia Clemm, a very young girl, who continued devotedly attached to him notwithstanding his many aberrations, until her death in 1847. _The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym_ appeared in 1838, and in 1839 P. became ed. of the _Gentleman's Magazine_, in which appeared as _Tales of the Arabesque and Grotesque_ many of his best stories. In 1845 his famous poem, _The Raven_, came out, and in 1848 _Eureka, a Prose Poem_, a pseudo-scientific lucubration. The death of his wife gave a severe shock to his constitution, and a violent drinking bout on a visit to Baltimore led to his death from brain fever in the hospital there. The literary output of P., though not great in volume, limited in range, and very unequal in merit, bears the stamp of an original genius. In his poetry he sometimes aims at a musical effect to which the sense is sacrificed, but at times he has a charm and a magic melody all his own. His better tales are remarkable for their originality and ingenuity of construction, and in the best of them he rises to a high level of imagination, as in _The House of Usher_, while _The Gold Beetle_ or _Golden Bug_ is one of the first examples of the cryptogram story; and in _The Purloined Letters_, _The Mystery of Marie Roget_, and _The Murders in the Rue Morgue_ he is the pioneer of the modern detective story. _Life_, Woodberry (American Men of Letters). _Works_ ed. by Woodberry and Stedman (10 vols.), etc.

Литературная энциклопедия. 2012