Known for his genre of mystery, macabre, and detective fiction, Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most famous poets of all time. Usually, when people think of him, images of premature burials, murders, madmen, and mysterious women brought back from pure death, like zombie-like creatures, come to mind. In 1809, Edgar was born, the second son in a family of three, two of whom became actors. After his mother and father died when he was three, John and Francis Allan raised him in Virginia. Edgar was sent to top boarding schools and later attended the University of Virginia where he was successful in his studies. He was forced to leave because he refused to pay his gambling debts. In 1827, he returned to Boston and enlisted in the United States Army where his first poems titled Tamerlane and Other Poems were published. In 1835 he began selling short stories to magazines and became editor of the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond. His brother Leonard Poe was a poet before his death and Poe was considered morbid and mysterious. Humiliated by poverty, he returned to Richmond and, after being broke and alone there, he moved to Baltimore. The first night he was back in Baltimore, his cousin stole him. He called several people to find a place to stay, and the only person who took him in was his aunt Maria Clemm. From his aunt Maria he was introduced to his younger cousin Virginia. Poe, aged about twenty-seven, married his cousin Virginia, aged twelve. They loved each other so much that they wrote poems to each other to share their love and sang together every night before bed. In 1846, Poe moved to New York to continue writing, but he ran out of paper...he wrote poems as he did. While he and his wife Virginia were still alive, they discovered through medical records that a doctor examining Virginia had discovered that Poe was suffering from brain fever. From this discovery, rumors of epilepsy and diabetes spread. Eventually, it was disproved that he had rabies since hydrophobia ceased to exist. Works Cited “Edgar Allan Poe Museum: The Life, Legacy, and Works of Poe: Richmond, Virginia. Edgar AllanPoe Museum: Poe's life, legacy and works: Richmond, Virginia. February 2, 2014. Poets.org. Academy of American Poets. February 2, 2014. http://quotations.about.com/cs/morepeople/a/bls_edgar_allen.htm http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1867198_1867170_1867264,00. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/e/edgar_allan_poe.html#5Rt3Y5JmEJogIFxp.99