On January 29, 1845, Edgar Allen Poe published his acclaimed poem “The Raven” in the New York Evening Mirror. The poem established Poe as a household name in the United States.
Poe was born in Boston in 1809 but was orphaned at the young age of 3. He moved to Richmond, Virginia, where he lived with the family of a businessman. When he grew older, he attended the University of Virginia but was expelled for gambling. He then enrolled in the military under a different name. It was here he discovered his love for writing through romantic literature.
In 1827, Poe published his first collection of poems independently, and less than a decade later, Poe won $50 in a story contest for his story “MS in a Bottle”. He continued to publish his stories in different publications, including the Philadelphia Courier, the Baltimore Sunday Visitor, and Godey’s Ladies’ Book. In the 1930s, he became the editor of several literary journals, including the Southern Literary Messenger and Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine.
Poe was known for his dark style of writing, often illustrating his characters descending into mania. The Raven tells the story of an unnamed character grieving the death of his lover, Lenore. In the poem, the character opens the window to a raven perched on the Pallas, the shield of the Greek goddess of wisdom, Athena. The raven then proceeds to speak the word “nevermore”, causing the main character to spiral into madness. Poe carefully chose a raven because it often symbolizes death.
The Raven was sold to the Evening Mirror as well as the American Review, but under the name “Quarles”. The poem was widely acclaimed and praised by authors Margaret Fuller and William Gilmore Simms. However, it also received negative reviews, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, who famously stated, “I see nothing in it.”
Despite the poem’s success, Poe struggled financially and passed away at the young age of 24. However, the Raven’s legacy persisted across American culture. The poem is credited with influencing Vladimir Nabokov’s novel “Lolita”, published in 1955, as well as Bernard Malamud’s 1963 story “The Jewbird”. Even more, the poem is the reason the NFL team, the Baltimore Ravens, is named after Poe, as he spent his career in the city, passed away there, and is buried there.
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