By: Tom Zart

One of America’s most famous writersWas born in Boston, January of 1809.Both his parents were failing actorsAnd his father was drunk most the time.In 1810 Edgar’s dad disappeared His mother died soon after.A childless couple took him inRaising him with love and laughter.Edgar had a Negro nurseWho brought him to her quarters.There he listened to ghost storiesFar beyond earthly borders. The strange tales he later wroteMay have come from her inspiration.The words she used to describe deathGave Poe his taste for sensation.The Allans moved to EnglandWhere Poe attended boarding schools.There’s no doubt his time spent thereSharpened his skills as tools.Returning to Richman and back in schoolHe began to compose new verse.Heavy debts forced him to leave collage As his life took a turn for the worse.Poe caught a ride on a coal barge to BostonWhere he was unable to find employment.A young printer agreed to publish his poemsGiving him hope and enjoyment.Penniless, Poe enlisted in the armyAnd was accepted to West Point in 29.Poe couldn’t stand not being a writerSelf-imposing his dismissal from The Line.Afterward he became an editor and criticAnd married his cousin who was thirteen.Six years latter he discovered she was dieingSuffering once more the unforeseen.He went through periods of insanityCaused by grieving and functional fall.He smoked opium and drink too muchTill at his door steep death would call.Edgar Allan Poe the master of verseStill lives in our hearts todayFamous for The Raven and other great worksMay his soul rest in peace we pray.By Tom Zart

EDGAR ALLAN POE
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