While there he distinguished himself academically but was forced to leave after less than a year because of bad debts and inadequate financial support from Allan. As a boy, Poe attended the best schools available, and was admitted to the University of Virginia at Charlottesville in 1825. Before Poe was three years old both of his parents died, and he was raised in the home of John Allan, a prosperous exporter from Richmond, Virginia, who never legally adopted his foster son. At the time of his birth in 1809, they were members of a repertory company in Boston. Poe’s father and mother were professional actors. Poe’s poetry and short stories greatly influenced the French Symbolists of the late 19th century, who in turn altered the direction of modern literature. In his own work, he demonstrated a brilliant command of language and technique as well as an inspired and original imagination. Whereas earlier critics predominantly concerned themselves with moral or ideological generalities, Poe focused his criticism on the specifics of style and construction that contributed to a work’s effectiveness or failure. Regarded in literary histories and handbooks as the architect of the modern short story, Poe was also the principal forerunner of the “art for art’s sake” movement in 19th-century European literature. Edgar Allan Poe’s stature as a major figure in world literature is primarily based on his ingenious and profound short stories, poems, and critical theories, which established a highly influential rationale for the short form in both poetry and fiction.

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