Edgar Allan Poe really was the epitome of a tortured poet, having a tragic upbringing with his father abandoning his family and his mother dying when he was only 2 years old. The Boston-born writer led a very unconventional life, including a scandalous relationship with a Rhode Island poet.
After publishing "The Raven" in 1845, Poe became a household name. That same year he met fellow poet Sarah Helen Whitman during a short trip to Providence. Poe bonded with the well-known Providence poet, essayist, spiritualist, and transcendentalist over their shared love for literature and their fascination with the afterlife.
Poe proposed to Whitman in a local cemetery in 1848 and was rejected, but she relented after several more attempts. But the wedding never came to pass, and Poe died less than a year later.
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