Edgar Allan Poe 1809-1849,Edgar Allan Poe,I. literary Position II. Life (1809 1849, a harsh and sad life filled with loss and tragedy)III. Poes Literary Criticism IV. Poems: Annabel LeeTo HelenTo Science,I. literary Position,1. father of modern short story 2. father of detective story 3. father of psychoanalytic criticism,Introduction,a villain with no virtue,an evil genius,Emerson: “the jingle man“,Whitman: “its narrow range and unhealthy, lurid quality” (不丰富的选材和不健康、可怕的质量),He was understood by critics and other writers in America.,Introduction,Poe enjoyed respect and welcome in Europe,His reputation was first made in France,Today, his works are read with appreciation and understanding.,Poes influence was considerable in Spain, Italy, Germany and Russia.,Introduction,Shaws evaluation of Poes achievement,a critic,a poet，a short story writer,“the greatest journalistic critic of his time“,his poetry is “exquisitely refined“(精致优雅),his tales are “complete works of art“,a great writer of fiction, a poet of the first rank, and a critic of insight,II. Life Poes Childhood 1,His father, an actor His mother, Elizabeth Arnold, an actress Poes parents were touring actors; A year after Edgars birth (1809) and several months before the birth of his sister Rosalie, the father disappeared His mother took several jobs in Charleston, Norfolk and Richmond, where she died in December, 1811,Poes Childhood 2,Poe was taken into the home of John Allan, a prosperous merchant in Richmond and baptized Edgar Allan Poe. His brother and sister were also adopted by the two well-to-do Richmond ladies who had befriended the mother The three Poe children, abandoned by their father, orphaned and separated in infancy, remained estranged from each other for life.,Poes Foster Family 1,Never legally adopted by the Allan but brought up as their son and presumed heir. John Allan was a well-to-do hardheaded Scots merchant who had great prospects of wealth from the estate of his uncle. Sent to good schools, Poe showed aptitude for languages and began writing verse.,Poes Foster Family 2,Poes relation with the Allans was unhappy. Edgar was entered in the University of Virginia Ran into debt and started borrowing money, gambling and getting deeper into debt,Poes Foster Family 3,Allan withdrew him from University A never ending controversy between them about money Went to Boston, enlisted in the army, served for two years and went to West Point Decided to leave West Point and to support himself by writing.,Poes Need for a Family,He worked as editor and writer most of his life, but he was always poor. In Baltimore met his grandmother, her widowed daughter, Mrs. Maria Clemm, and her two small children Henry and Virginia. After the death of his grandmother Poe married his 13-year-old cousin in 1835 when he was 26.,Poe married his 13-year old cousin, Virginia Clemm. Her early death may have inspired some of his writing.,Letter by Edgar Allan Poe to Maria Clemm and her daughter Virginia August 29, 1835,My last, my only hold on life is cruelly torn away - I have no desire to live and will not. I love, you know I love Virginia passionately devotedly.Pity me, my dear Aunty, pity me. I have no one now to fly to - I am among strangers, and my wretchedness is more than I can bear.,Poes last few years,Virginia died in 1847, which left him inconsolable. Deep drinking problems He died, in mysterious circumstances, in 1849. He was only 40 then.,Edgar Allan Poe is buried in Baltimore, Maryland. The circumstances and cause of his death remain uncertain.,III. Poes Contribution to Literary Criticism: THE PHILOSOPHY OF COMPOSITION 1,That pleasure which is at once the most intense, the most elevating, and the most pure, is, I believe, found in the contemplation of the beautiful. Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears. Melancholy is thus the most legitimate of all the poetical tones.,THE PHILOSOPHY OF COMPOSITION 2,I asked myself “Of all melancholy topics, what, according to the universal understanding of mankind, is the most melancholy?“ Death was the obvious reply. “And when,“ I said, “is this most melancholy of topics most poetical?“ From what I have already explained at some length, the answer, here also, is obvious “When it most closely allies itself to Beauty: the death, then, of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world,Annabel Lee 1,Most people agree that Edgar Allan Poe wrote “Annabel Lee“ about his departed wife, Virginia Clemm, who died of tuberculosis two years earlier.,Annabel Lee It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of Annabel Lee; And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me.,For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes Of the beautiful Annabel Lee: And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling my darling my life and my bride, In her sepulchre there by the sea In her tomb by the sounding sea.,