Poe established himself not only as an excellent writer of poetry and fiction but also as a literary critic, whose level of imagination and intuition still did not reach American literature. Poe, who works as an editor, poet, and critic, has had a profound impact on American and international literature. Here are some Edgar Allan Poe Quotes.
Short Biography of Edgar Allan Poe
Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809, to the talented actress Eliza Poe and her unfortunate husband, David, who abandoned her. Edgar Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 19, 1809. He was the second child of English-born actress Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe and actor David Poe, Jr. After his mother died in Richmond, Virginia in 1811, he was welcomed into the home. John Allan, a merchant from Richmond (presumably his godfather), and his childless wife.
He was later taken to Scotland and England (1815-20) where he received a classical education which he continued at Richmond. They never officially adopted him, but he was with them in his youth. Poe’s father and mother, both professional actors, died before the poet was three years old, and John and Francis Allan raised him as an adopted son in Richmond, Virginia. Poe and Mrs. Clemm moved to New York in 1837 in the hope that Edgar would find work in the literary field.
Edgar Allan Poe’s status as a leading figure in world literature rests primarily on his witty and profound stories, poems, and critical theories, which established a very important logic for the short form in both poetry and fiction. Poe, regarded in literary history and textbooks as the originator of the modern short story, Poe was also the leading precursor of the “art for art’s sake” movement in 19th-century European literature.
Although at one time critics such as Ivor Winters wanted to exclude Poe from literary history, his works remain an integral part of any conception of modernism in world literature. A major contributor to the horror and science fiction genres, Poe is now considered the father of the modern detective novel and is highly regarded as a poet. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, especially those of mystery and horror.
Famous Edgar Allan Poe Quotes
“Believe only half of what you see and nothing that you hear.”
“It is a happiness to wonder; — it is a happiness to dream.”
“The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?”
“Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.”
“Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see.”
“There are some secrets which do not permit themselves to be told.”
“Years of love have been forgot, In the hatred of a minute.”
“There are chords in the hearts of the most reckless which cannot be touched without emotion.”
“If you wish to forget anything on the spot, make a note that this thing is to be remembered.”
“Never to suffer would never to have been blessed.”
“I felt that I breathed an atmosphere of sorrow.”
“There is something in the unselfish and self-sacrificing love of a brute, which goes directly to the heart of him who has had frequent occasion to test the paltry friendship and gossamer fidelity of mere Man.”
“It is by no means an irrational fancy that, in a future existence, we shall look upon what we think our present existence, as a dream.”
“Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears.”
“Invisible things are the only realities.”
“Science has not yet taught us if madness is or is not the sublimity of the intelligence.”
“With me poetry has not been a purpose, but a passion.”
“To elevate the soul, poetry is necessary.”
“Even in the grave, all is not lost.”
“Convinced myself, I seek not to convince.”
“A short story must have a single mood and every sentence must build towards it.”
“All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.”
“Where the good and the bad and the worst and the best have gone to their eternal rest.”
“Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty in words.”
“If you run out of ideas follow the road; you’ll get there”
“The true genius shudders at incompleteness – and usually prefers silence to saying something which is not everything it should be.”
“Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who dream only at night.”
“No one should brave the underworld alone.”
“That man is not truly brave who is afraid either to seem or to be, when it suits him, a coward.”
“And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor, Shall be lifted — Nevermore!”
“And then there stole into my fancy, like a rich musical note, the thought of what sweet rest there must be in the grave.”