On this day in 1845, his magnum opus was published for the first time Edgar Allan Poe – The Raven (The Raven).
A lyrical and metaphysical poem at the same time, that seduces with the slide into madness. Perhaps indicative of the author's state - physical and spiritual - it remains a point of reference to this day.
Poe's life has justly earned him the designation of a cursed poet: A cruel succession of illnesses, deaths, addictions and misfortunes, so unrelenting that it would hardly leave one unscarred.
Tragic events for Poe begin before he was even a year old, when his father, an actor and drunkard, leaves the family home, while when he was three, his mother passed away, leaving him an orphan. His mother's cause of death was tuberculosis, which will inspire Poe to write one of his short stories, after first gradually losing, from the same cause, his two adoptive parents, his brother, as well as one of his wives and his biological cousin.
By 1842, the year his wife was diagnosed with tuberculosis, he had racked up debt, dropped out of college, enlisted in the Army and later West Point Military Academy, and moved from graveyard-walking Richmond to Baltimore. And his writing work is rich, in contrast to him, who, in the absence of the concept of "copyrights", saw his fame and that alone growing, with the republishing of his poems and short stories in newspapers and magazines. At the same time, his addiction to alcohol tightened like a vise, tighter and tighter on his personal life, as well as his professional life.
In 1845, the well-known "Crow" was published, which would make him famous throughout the literary community, but would leave him once again without financial rewards.
However, the personal elation of the success of the publication of The Raven seems not to have been enough for Edgar Allan Poe. His problem with alcohol and drug addiction continued to plague his interpersonal relationships, but also exacerbated the chronic depression from which he suffered.
Four years later, in 1849, at the end of September, a passer-by saw Poe on a Baltimore street in a state of delirious shock and wearing clothes that, as it later turned out, were not his own. He expired in hospital from causes never known, after doctors' reports mysteriously disappeared. Theories cite as the main cause of death the chronic alcoholism that had created complications in his body, others syphilis, poisoning, some even talk about rabies.
Whatever the final cause, his burial took place on October 8 or 9, and his grave is in Baltimore, where it is a special attraction of the area.
In Greece from Acid publications the works of "The Murders in the Rue Morgue”", "“The Black Cat" and "Mystery Stories", while the Macabre Stories I & II are expected soon from the same publisher in a luxurious illustrated edition.