The life of Edgar Allan Poe is not an easy story. Poe's life was full of personal and fiscal disasters. These disasters help shape some of the most disturbing and intellectually stimulating poetry ever written. For the short duration of his life, Poe was seen as a literary critic rather than an author. To the modern generation his unknown status seems bafflingly inconceivable, considering his now acclaimed publications. Edgar Allan Poe's writing was largely dictated by his life. The sad tone of Edgar Allan Poe's life created his literature; Death and all his friends told the story of Poe's life. Edgar Allan Poe shows the constant desperation of his life through his poetry and short stories. Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809 to a pair of "traveling actors, David Poe Jr. and Elizabeth Poe." (Tilton 12). Poe's name was highly regarded because of their strong role in the Revolutionary War (Tilton 12). In 1809, two years after his brother, Poe was born (Tilton 13). This family would not remain disbanded for long, before Edgar turned one his father disappeared (Padgett 20). This event left his mother, Elizabeth Poe, in great poverty (Tilton 13). With the birth of Poe's younger sister came even more financial hardship for Poe's family (Tilton 13). Although Elizabeth's acting ability continued to amaze audiences, her pay was not adequate to support her children. On December 8, 1811, Elizabeth died from a severe case of tuberculosis (Padgett 23). Poe was soon absorbed into the Allan family (Tilton 14). Frances Allan became especially devoted to the young Poe, as she had no children of her own. After growing up in a more privileged environment, Mr. Allan's business began to fail (Tilton 15). As a result Allan realloca... middle of paper... expected his lifelong drinking habits to lead to his early death. Edgar Allan Poe shows the constant desperation of his life through his poetry and short stories. Poe's life was full of personal disasters, but of all of them, Virginia Clemm's death was the most influential and damaging to Poe. Virginia was believed to have inspired the poem "Annabel Lee" (Bloom 124). Throughout this poem Poe shows his heart for his wife Virginia. She writes of how Virginia lived “with no other thought than to love and be loved by me” (Poe 112), but through the pen name Annabel Lee. Poe then shows his anger by stating, “The angels, not half so happy in heaven, still envied her and me- Yes! - This was the reason the wind came out of the cloud at night, chilling and killing my Annabel Lee” (Poe 112). Through these simple words Poe shows the impact Virginia left on him.