Edgar Allan Poe His Life & Legacy (pgs 163-240)

Summary
Since Poe moved to New York he is writing all these different types of stories like The Raven which was a dramatic story he wrote that impressed a lot people. Poe's fame enhanced in February 1845 because a writer wrote an essay on The Raven where he said the story was not as good but Poe handled that criticism very well. Poe worked in the Broadway Journal in New York, where he was very quiet and concentrated on his work. He also worked for the Mirror, where in both places he wrote great reviews of the work of Burns, Milton, Lamb, Hunt, Shelley, Hazlitt, Barrett, Tennyson, Lowell, and Prescott. Poe worked a copious amount of hours but was underpaid. As Poe edited in the Broadway Journal and his fame and popularity increased in New York, and women became very attracted because they saw him as, "creative genius, his prestige and power in the world of letters." Poe began his love affairs with just two women, but feeling bad for his sick wife he stop, Poe began reading textbooks on tuberculosis which made him feel sad because his wife Virginia had the disease. Poe was able to read a poem that he wrote at the Boston Lyceum for 55 dollars, so he bragged that it was the best poem but it turned out that it was not which was ashamed in Bostonians eyes. The Broadway Journal went out of business but Poe borrowed money to buy it back, but since he was not able to keep he began heavily drinking for 18 months, his wife died at the age of 24 same age and disease as his mom and brother. After his depression, Poe started writing a book called Eureka in 1847 and completed it in 1848, it was about a French astronomer and mathematician. Poe started meeting other women he meet three women Marie Louise, who rejected him because of his drinking, Helen Whitman who decided last minute not to marry him because of his past, and Annie who wanted to be with him but he pick Helen over her so she move on. Poe did not have any good luck with women.

Quotation
After Virginia death Poe felt it was wrong to remarry but there was just some women that caught his attention, "Poe liked to worship women from afar, in letters and in verse. When he drew dangerously close to them, he became overwrought and insecure, and deliberately-if unconsciously-ruined his chances of marriage. There was a strong contrast between Poe's highly disciplined writing and the emotional eruptions of his love letters" (Meyers 221).

Reaction
I was very sad for Edgar Allan Poe because his wife Virginia died and he loved her a lot, some of the things he would write about where so deep and loving. I could understand why Poe was afraid to marry again because he has been with Virginia for so long, but the other women that are coming around are making him think twice which i kind of figured that he was going to want to remarry again. I agree with this quote because I noticed that Poe every time he fell in love with a women he would not just go up to them but he would take the time a write this detail letter or poem about that one lady. I think that is so romantic I see why these ladies fall head over heels for him, there are some of these poems in the book and he describes that particular lady so well I can picture her in my mind. The bad thing is Poe is a very heavy drinker it is like every time he is depressed he drinks, and when the women find that out they decided he is not the best choice to marry. I feel bad for him because he is a really nice man who falls in love with these ladies so fast and he that he could sit there and write this lovely poem about her. The difference between Poe writings was that he mostly wrote this fictional stories that pop in his head, but when it came to writing love letters he jus sat there and thought about the girl and put his thoughts on paper. I hope that Poe finds someone that will stick with him.