1847 was not a highly exciting time in the history of America nor in the course of Edgar Allan Poe's life. The greatest issue of the world at the time was the Irish Potato Famine which hit the United States hard due to a great increase in emigrating Europeans. President Ulysses S. Grant, of the time, was also fighting the tail end of the U.S.-Mexican War and beginning the reconstruction of the old South in a Post-Civil War Era. Culturally, the country was divided between those that wished to help the Irish immigrants who came searching for a healthier life in the States and those who believed these migrants were a burden on the American people. Many believed that the immigration of the Irish was a horrible thing set to take up American jobs and fill the streets with filth. Philosophy of the time revolved around misery and poverty. This is best represented by Proudhon in his essays "Philosophy of Misery" and "Philosophy of Poverty", which was later made infamous by Karl Marx. In these essays the philosophical beliefs of the time were reflected on the greatest issues to plague the American people as an explanation of life and the world. (Proudhon, 1847).
The famous poet, Edgar Allan Poe, was born in Baltimore to two roaming actors on January 19, 1809. In 1812 Poe's parents died leaving him in the care of a tobacco merchant, by the name of John Allan. He lived with Allan in Richmond, Virginia until going to University of Virginia in 1826. After fallout with Allan he published his first book in 1827 and joined the Army, only to later enter West Point for eight months in 1830. After his expulsion from the school he moved in with his favorite Aunt and her daughter Virginia until 1835.
[...] American Literary History, 1-18. Proudhon, P. (2002). Philosophy of Poverty. McLean, VA: IndyPublish. Proudhon, P. (2002). Philosophy of misery. McLean, VA.: IndyPublish. San Diego Historical Society. (n.d.). The U.S.-Mexican War in San Diego, 1846-1847 San Diego History Center. San Diego History Center. [...]
[...] Retrieved June from http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/v49-1/war.htm Sova, D. (2007). Critical companion to Edgar Allan Poe: a literary reference to his life and work. Baltimore: Facts on File. Symbol and Sense in Poe's “Ulalume”. (1963). American Literature, 35(1) Woodall, G. R. (1984). Another Source For the ‘Misty Mid-Region of Weir'. American Notes & Queries, 8. [...]
[...] (Poe p.390). This separation of soul entirely from its owner is the very pinnacle of Poe's idea of Subconscious Self and is a recurring theme throughout many of his poems. It can be seen in many forms throughout the decades of Poe's writing. Finally, Nature is represented in the poem as descriptive imagery so as to set the scene of the narrator's revelation. We know that the character walks through the woods by his description of them in the first two stanzas. [...]
[...] He still remains one of the greatest poets of all time. Some of his greatest works include his first publication Tamerlane and Other Poems of 1827, Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque of the 1830's, Raven” published in 1845, and his only narrative The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. These were published among scores of other poems and collections by the great poet Poe. His poem “Ulalume” written in 1847 is believed by the author of “Symbol and Sense in Poe's ‘Ulalume'” to be written on the death of Poe's wife Virginia, as recorded by the statement, his own life, Poe's immemorial year, according to Killis Campbell, may have been 1847, the year of his wife's illness and death,” (1963, p.30). [...]
[...] President Ulysses S. Grant, of the time, was also fighting the tail end of the U.S.-Mexican War and beginning the reconstruction of the old South in a Post-Civil War Era. Culturally, the country was divided between those that wished to help the Irish immigrants who came searching for a healthier life in the States and those who believed these migrants were a burden on the American people. Many believed that the immigration of the Irish was a horrible thing set to take up American jobs and fill the streets with filth. [...]
APA Style reference
For your bibliographyOnline reading
with our online readerContent validated
by our reading committee
