Actually the stories of him being a drunken drug addict was made up by Poe’s frienemy, Rufus Wilmot Griswold. Poe was basically allergic to alcohol and if he had one drink he’d be instantly drunk and feel incredibly ill afterwards. Griswold never actually liked Poe due to Poe writing a critical response to an anthology Griswold wrote and for the longest time people believed Griswold because he wrote about Poe quite a bit and how he was a miserable drunk and drug addict, but when Poe’s real friends found out about this they set the record straight that he wasn’t a drunk nor did drugs. Unfortunately, what Griswold said is still being perpetrated to this day with people believing Poe did drugs and drank himself into a stupor to write his poems and stories.
You're absolutely right, Jared. It's refreshing to hear the truth spoken vs. the BS lies Griswold perpetuated, which are perpetuated again in this video. I think I am done with Weird History for good now.
A Speck Of Spock I always did thoroughly enjoy his anecdotal account of his European travels. Wonder why he decided to make that most inconspicuous change to his last name during this period?
THANK YOU for writing this! I was about to! I've hated Griswold on Poe's behalf ever since I found out about the blatant lies and acts of defamation that horrid man spit.
I wrote a poem it's called pose my foal he's sitting in the road like a told about to explode and he got ate by a crow and is holed Annabel Lee when she got smashed like waves on the Rock in the sea and you know the Raven is a crow and it knows it gets exploit the Rita the poetry
I'm a native of Virginia and I remember once driving to Baltimore for a work assignment. I, too ended up incoherent and in need of help, mostly because the roads were so confusing.
Edgar Allan Poe didn't drink heavily. He had an allergy where the slightest drink would make him drunk. Those stories were lies told about him after he died.
@@sookie1x65 Don't believe everything you hear about Poe. A lot of it is lies made up to discredit him. Half of what this video puts forth as truth is actually half truth, or absolutely false.
I've seen poe cottage since I was a kid, my uncle used to scare me and said a tiny man lived in there it scared the shit out of me, I wish they would open it up for regular tours. I'm a huge history buff and would love to enter an old house in my own borough. But considering The Bronx is the hardest hit borough in covid deaths probably wont be going in there anytime soon :(
As I am a Baltimore native, I was raised on the local legend of Poe's death. Local lore says Poe was drunkenly used, and abused, as a repeat voter in a local election. In those days, bogus voters would be taken from poll to poll to vote repeatedly. Poe supposedly was one of those repeat voters, and was beaten when he gave his handler(s) grief. Poe was reputedly found in another man's clothing, which was in such disarray that some was inside out. He was taken to the nearby mariners' hospital to die.
@@XYKelseyyy If he did stoped drinking abruptly, he's body wouldn't take it; I'm unsure of this cause of death, but I think he would've gotten at least a brain stroke, hence delirium. If he would've been drunk, then it would've been obvious and recorded as the cause... What I feel though, is that he was killed; maybe by poison. In he's works, he had a keen understanding of the pathology of criminals, motivations, etc; he could've easily be a detective if not for he's curent era. He didn't had studies to prove he's worth. That's my opinion, based on the little I've read from he's works; they are truly freightening...
Im from Baltimore born and raised too.. from Hampden.. I did work in the hospital they showed towards the end, there's a bench that's marked out front with a plaque saying it was the place he was found.. the building he died in is an old folks home now, the crematorium in the basement is walled off..
Shona Palmer well, I mean she kind of is self made, her parents sure didn’t give her a billion dollar company. She started that on her own, with some help like businesses usually get. She is the youngest self made billionaire! edit - my comment sounds so stupid because what you said kind of sounded like an insult, ok I’ll leave sorry.
@@camrynhendrixs she pretty much crowd funded the money she needed to reach her goal of becoming the youngest billionaire or whatnot. she is not self made. and I refuse to believe she didnt get any money from her parents. self-made normally means someone started something completely on their own and because of said venture they accrued their fortune. also, why do you feel peronally attacked when someone mentions a kardashian?
I mean while she comes from a very wealthy family she did make her company successful herself. I wouldn’t call her self made but she did find success on her own.
@@coconut6629 Actually, there are many books and testimonials that DO set the record straight. Fact is that Poe couldn't handle alcohol very well and was more likely to get sick than drunk. And though you can find information that attests to his gambling "addiction", I've yet to find anything even suggesting that he did drugs. I guess the truth of it just isn't widely received or cared about, though.
His adoptive mother doted on Edgar. As she was dying from TB, the second woman he loved to succumb to the disease, John Allan, carried on affairs increasing Edgar's already strained relationship with the cold man who was never thrilled to adopt him to begin with.
As much as I love this channel, I was appalled at how inaccurate this video is, and it honestly didn’t do much in the way of informing, merely perpetuating myths. I get that their videos are supposed to be “bite-sized lessons”, but this one really missed the mark.
He was never adopted by the Allans. He was their foster child only, though Edgar yearned to be part of the family and was always treated like a charity case who should be more grateful for all the wonderful blessings they had bestowed on him (!!). A terrible situation for a brilliant and hypersensitive child.
I was thinking of creating a Supernatural tag team of an alternate universe where Edgar Allan Poe & H.P. Lovecraft would be 19th & 20th century paranormal detectives & combatants, ( kind of like a cross between Constantine a la Maulder & Scully ) and both confront their foe,Allistar Crowley & each of their creative ideas that have come to life,(i.e.- The Raven, Murder in Rue Morgue killer, The Reanimator, Cthulu agents,)etc. What do you think??
Poe is my favorite writer. As a matter of fact, his writings inspired me to become a writer. Even though it has been 170 years since his death, society really hasn’t changed its attitude towards writers, most of whom struggle to make a living. I will admit, however, that Poe was a poor literary critic. He made enemies when he didn’t really have to, something that undoubtedly contributed to his state of poverty. Nevertheless, he wrote with an eloquence that has yet to be matched.
Quite right! My own favorites of this genre besides Poe, are Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde and Wilkie Collins. The characters depicted in books of those authors somehow, for me at any rate, come to life to such a superlative degree, that I half believe that I've personally known them as family!
Problem with writers is they don't create anything. Authors create books, Screen writers create television and film etc. A writer sells you dreams for cash and usually goes poor doing so.
Yes. Poe probably had Intolerance and couldn't process alcohol well. Many, many people who knew Poe said he rarely drank often but was extremely drunk at times according to others.
He invented the murderous clown, too. I can't say for sure that he was the first one to write about a murderous clown, but he was the first American writer to do so.
I did a whole semester on Poe in school. It was great! It really raised my respect for him. The truly tragic part is that he would die before his true talent and success was apparent to the world. (The Raven was a success but he was the father of five genres and so on)
No its pretty much stayed the same. Like stated in the story. He was promoted to sergeant major mostly because of his record keeping. He did good at his job and was very obedient hence the promotion. The Military rewards subservience..
Different in a couple of ways. There are 9 enlisted grades now with Sergeant Major (SGM) being the top. Of course there are different levels as a SGM but the grade is still E9. Back then, SGM was the senior enlisted Soldier in charge of discipline and enlisted affairs for all of the Privates, Corporals, and Sergeants. They didn’t have 8 junior enlisted grades to attain first. Also, in terms of minimum time requirement (Poe was chosen among 400 enlisted Soldiers after only 2 years of service). A “SuperStar” might be selected for SGM today in 15 years. Most commonly they already have at least 20 years under their belt when they’re selected. Today, A board of SGMs make the selections for the Army with a General Officer presiding. Back then, the Regimental Commander could select his own SGM, and he did so, choosing Poe after meeting with him about the discharge Poe was seeking. Poe was a good Soldier but also the grandson of a very popular Quartermaster officer. Some say this played a role in his selection as well. Interesting anyway you look at it.
@@stephencarleton4032 No way. Not in that short amount of time. It takes 10+ years to get that rank now. And the rank structure has changed several times over the years. Particularly the removal of the tiered Specialist system and addition of Warrant Officers.
Several years ago a fan of Poe's fans gave a description of Poe's symptoms to a group of doctors without telling them the actual patient's name. They ruled his symptoms to appear to be latter stages of rabies.
@@Ndstars1 Marc Evan Jackson is his name. He's also on BK99 and Parks and Rec. And now I see it lol... it does sound like him. The pompous kinda stern speech pattern lol
plenty of people inherit wealth, some just sit on it, others enhanced their situation a little, and some go beyond that. Kardashian is the latter. Trump I read if he just invested on it would be equal or a little better then his father (but the article could be biased)
Poe is one of my favorite authors! I think my favorite of his stories is “The Black Cat”, but there is a poem that surpasses everything for the spot of favorite: I heed not that my earthly lot hath little of earth in it That years of love have been forgot in the hatred of a minute I mourn not that the desolate are happier, sweet than I But that you who suffer my fate Who am a passerby
If anyone hasn't yet seen,"The Raven" (starring John Cusack as Poe) I highly recommend it,for he did a great job in the movie. Poe has been and always will be my top fave Gothic writer of the 19th Century. Yes,sad his life had been; but through his torturous time,he gave the world his visions of the darkside that we loved being scared by. Edgar,you Rock!🤟😉🤟
I went to Edgar Allen Poe elementary school, at nap time, our teacher would read his stories 😳 I'm 57, still remember the stories, not fondly. #dementedteacher
@@shadowscribbler6100 I was a very early reader and had a book containing the full works of Edgar Alan Poe, I read all of them, age seven!! spooky, frightened the life out of me and gave me nightmares. We had a lodger who was a teacher and had helped me to read, I didn't understand most stories or poems then but at that age spooky was great . 👻I,m now 90 but still remember. Great of Alan Parsons to bring back such amazing times, My Son still has the book!!👴
There are a lot of “odd” family dynamics going on here. Did he really need to be adopted by strangers when he had so much family? Especially since one of the three was adopted by the grandparents. I wonder if it was for financial reasons or just plain favoritism.
there is speculation that the 3 siblings did not share the same father if these were the paternal grandparents, it would make sense they only take the kid they believed to be their son's
@@johanvajse8410 There has been rumors that Rosalie was Edgar's half sister. It was even alluded to by John Allan in a letter to Poe's brother, William.
Poe’s poem alone.. and the black cat will always be my favorite.. these two pieces was my introduction to the brilliant mind of what is Edgar Allen Poe!
My older brother came home from middle school one day while I was still in elementary and had me read The Tell-Tale Heart. Never wrote a paper on it, but I immediately went to my mom's book shelf and asked if she had a book of his work. I've been booked ever since
Jesse Hinman. I had a half brother that died from alcoholism at the age of 41 I think. He had a beautiful Gordon setter dog that he raised from a pup. His dog he called Edgar Allen Poe because he refused to be trained. He wasn't a bad dog, it was just that he was going to do things his way and nobody was going to make him do things differently. Rick called the dog Poe and he was totally freaked out by thunderstorms and July 4th fireworks. He'd go climb in the bathtub and shiver and moan, but if you were to throw a heavy blanket over him, he would usually calm down quite a bit. It was pretty hilarious to see him walking around with a blanket wrapped and tied around him before, during and after an intensely violent summer storm. Only trouble was, Poe visibly took offence to someone laughing at him. You could look him in the eyes and see that he was offended by the humiliation he had to endure. Rick, a big EA Poe fan from a young kid in school, always maintained his dog was a reincarnated Edgar Allen Poe. I believe it was very likely to be so.
I've read and heard the Poe story so many times but since he's my favorite author, I always click on a new link that tells his story. I wish his life was lil better. His macabre pieces keep me sane
Thanks so much for posting this ! I lived in Baltimore for many years and every week would board the Insomniac bus that would drive us all over Baltimore and we always stopped at the grave of Edgar Allen Poe. I'd faithfully leave a yellow rose as a sign of my friendship for the only author I admired !
Yes, Virginia was 13, but she was soon to be sent away to live with a grown male suitor anyways. Because Edgar really only thought of her as a sister, it is theorized the intense love Edgar felt for Virginia was platonic, and that he married her so quickly as to protect her from any arranged marriages.
The fact is simple: Edgar Allan Poe described modern cosmology in Eureka. It was no lucky guess. He was a genius who studied Laplace and understood the Big Bang, Multiverses, and the Cosmic Horizon. This book even perturbed Einstein.
It saddens me that his life was so tragic because he remains my all time favorite poet and writer. I think he must have been terribly broken heart-ed as evidenced by his epic poem Annabel Lee.
Certainly, and I love this channel, too, but this video failed in many aspects of telling the truth about multiple aspects of his life that have been widely falsified over the past 150+ years.
The only reason I started to learn and listen to Poe's poetry is because of Bungou Stray Dogs. Plus, he wasn't a drunk and didn't do drugs, for Edgar was practically allergic to alcohol, and it gets under my skin when people say he was a drunk and did drugs when he didn't
M G that’s just suspected, he died and was just randomly buried since no one could afford a funeral for him. They might of found his body and moved it but I’m not sure.
He is still remembered today in Charleston, as he spent time here during his stint in the military. Poe’s is a local hangout on Sullivan’s Island, which was also the place where Ft Moultrie was, and there is a small Island called Goldbug Island nearby. There are many parties hosted there. Drinks flow freely at both places. Edgar would be proud.
Reconsider what was said - It seems Edgar was probably completely right in viewing John as a raging alcoholic. Given various phrasing of Johns quotes it seems highly probable that John was psychologically and physically abusive to Edgar - That may have been 'normal' at the time but it doesn't negate just cause for Edgar's attitudes. Adopted a 2 year old orphan relative and then held it over his head constantly... That's beyond trashy and screams of unspoken abuse when considered in context of future statements.
@@kevinbooth- You make a good point, but also it seems like Edgar continually tried taking advantage of his adoptive fathers affluence anytime he had a chance to do so.
@@richyrich6099 Which would have been a learned behaviour, right? Aren't most affluent people such because they took advantage of others? Reason dictates that Edgar should not be treated with disdain by John for doing exactly what John did himself and in fact directly taught Edgar to do as well... In the end, a parent can hold little, if anything, against a child. The child is simply the manifestation of the choices the parent made. In parent/child relations we cannot hold the child responsible for those things which the parent induced/inspired/ingrained.
There’s a really good book called “The Unknown Poe” that has some of his lesser known works in it. I highly recommend it if you’re interested in knowing more about his writing!
I think you would really like the Edgar Allan Poe album that Alan Parsons Project released in '76. One of the songs is titled The Cask of Amontillado. They do a fantastic job of relaying and projecting the feeling and fear that Poe originally wished the reader to feel. Listen to it on a dark stormy night and the creepiness factor rises. Please listen to the whole album, you won't regret it.
Also because of the very bizarre story behind the scenes of ‘murder in rue de la morgue’, published by both Dumas (with different name of the rue) AND Poe with little differences! Super interesting story!
The first “adult/grown up”” thing I remember reading was the Pitt and the Pendulum when I was 9, I got my mom to buy me his do poetry collection the same year and I remember reading it.... I was too young to understand all of it (murder in the rue morgue confused me for awhile) but I knew I loved it.
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Great video and loved learning about this literary figure. Would love to see a video on Ernest Hemingway, Dr. Seuss, Jane Austen, John Steinbeck, Harper Lee, and Louisa May Alcott.
About 6 years ago, I went through an Edgar Allan Poe obsession phase and learned a bunch of stuff about his life. I'm watching this video now to see if I encountered anything new but surprisingly I remember everything mentioned. Also, another speculation about his death that my English teacher told the class (it's a stretch but possible) is that elections were happening in Baltimore at the time of his death. Back then, some men would drug other people and make them vote for their respective candidate. One theory is that Poe was drugged by these people and forced to vote. Again, it's only speculation, but it's another theory in the mix
The first Alan Parsons Project album in 1976 "Tales of Mystery and Imagination" is based on Poe's works. And when Alan's partner Eric Woolfson left APP he did a musical using some of that material simply called Poe.
Elizabeth Ellot. She was a fellow poet and gossip monger. When Edgar was involved with a married woman, Elizabeth was jealous and wanted revenge. She sent poison pen letters to Virginia and spread gossip about him and the married woman.
@ 6:03 - Damn, John Allan really was fed up of Poe, "even on his death bed Allan refused to meet with Poe and threatened to beat him with a cane if he didn't leave"
Always love Weird History and their spin on teaching a history lesson. Well done! I think another American writer that would intrigue a lot of people would be Robert Frost. I wish you your team all the best.
Just going to make a quick comment regarding some errors: 00:01:14 is not a picture of Poe's brother, it's an engraving of Edgar. 00:01:21 is not a photo of their father, that's a painting of John Allan. 00:07:44 Thomas "Dunn English" 00:01:27, 00:08:36, and 00:12:08 were painted by Chris Semtner, curator of the Poe Museum in Richmond.
As a writer Poe was outstanding in that he was so intuitive. For example in his poem the raven he was very aware of the fact that a raven could imitate human speech, however unlike a parrot often chooses not to do so.
My great great grandmother had a crush on Edgar and had a collection of his work and a few were signed personal letters. According to my dad she had a relationship with him as well. Since learning that, it's really interesting to know more about him.
