Jose Soto Enc1101 Prof. Cueto 7/20/09

Childhood Edgar Poe was born in Boston on 19 January, 1809 to actress Elizabeth Arnold Poe and alcoholic father, David Poe, Jr. By the time the young Poe was two years old, his father had abandoned the family. His mother died, a year after his father abandoned them. A wealthy Scottish merchant, John Allan, started to take care of Poe and his sister. In 1815, the Allans, who never officially adopted the two children, moved the family to England for an extended business trip. John Allan recognized the importance of a good education and enrolled Edgar into the best schools in England. Edgar at the age of ten demonstrated himself as an excellent student. It was during his time in England that he became interested in Gothic literature. Edgar was tormented in school by other students who taunted him. Jane Stith Stanard, a mother of a classmate, offered help to Edgar until her untimely death in Her death brought the first period of depression in his life. Poe studied classical and modern languages in the University of Virginia. Consequently, the young student became buried in over $2000 of debt, which he tried to pay off by gambling. Poe was forced to leave school and return to Richmond to pay off the debts, which his father refused to pay.

Adulthood At the age of 18, Poe enlisted in the army under the name Edgar A. Perry and was ultimately sent to Charleston, South Carolina. In February, 1829, Frances Allen died. After a brief reconciliation with his father, Poe entered the West Point Military Academy in July Less than six months later, he found out that John Allen re-married a woman who had children. Devastated in the knowledge that he would not receive an inheritance from Allen, Poe began to gamble and drink heavily. In March 1831, he was dismissed from West Point. Even on his deathbed in 1834, John Allen refused to see Edgar. In 1835, his grandmother, Elizabeth Poe, died and he moved back to Richmond with his aunt and cousin. On 16 May 1836, Poe married his 13-year-old cousin Virginia Clemm and moved with his new bride and his aunt to New York City and then Philadelphia. It was here that Poe expanded his career as a fiction writer, publishing Ligeia (1838), The Fall of the House of Usher (1839), and William Wilson (1840). Despite his literary success, Poe was again looking at tragedy with the failing health of his wife, Virginia. In January 1847, she died and Poe was hit by deep physiological depression and heavy drinking. After returning north, on 3 October 1849, Poe was found unconscious on a Baltimore street. He spent his last days delirious in hospital. On 7 October 1849, Poe uttered his last words, "Lord help my poor soul.”

A Dream Within A Dream Take this kiss upon the brow! And, in parting from you now, Thus much let me avow; You are not wrong who deem That my days have been a dream; Yet if hope has flown away In a night, or in a day, In a vision, or in none, Is it therefore the less gone? All that we see or seem Is but a dream within a dream. I stand amid the roar Of a surf-tormented shore, And I hold within my hand Grains of the golden sand— How few! Yet how they creep Through my fingers to the deep, While I weep—while I weep! O God! can I not grasp Them with a tighter clasp? O God! can I not save One from the pitiless wave? Is all that we see or seem But a dream within a dream?

A Dream Within A Dream As he kisses her he says his last goodbye. Wishing that he had more time in this dream. Having a hard time figuring out if this is reality he sees no hope but hopes that by a slight chance if there is someone out there that could answer him. He believes that everything we see and how we appear represents an illusion.

A Dream Within A Dream He faces an obstacle in which he doesn’t have enough time to defeat. Drifting away and trying to regain his composure. He cries out “O God!” as all hope fades away. The question still remains can everything that we see be a dream.

"Edgar Allan Poe." Wikipedia. Web.20 Jul "Young Poe." Edgar allan poe music. Web.20 Jul "Edgar Allan Poe." Wikipedia. Web.20 Jul Allan Poe, Edgar. "A Dream Within A Dream." PoemHunter. Web.20 Jul "Jacob Dream." TypePad. Web.20 Jul