1809-1849. US writer and poet. His short
stories are renowned for their horrific
atmosphere (as in The Fall of the House of
Usher 1839) and acute reasoning (for example,
The Gold Bug 1843 and The Murders in the Rue
Morgue 1841, in which the investigators
Legrand and Dupin anticipate Conan Doyle's
Sherlock Holmes). His poems include `The
Raven' 1844. His novel, The Narrative of
Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket 1838, has
attracted critical attention. Born in Boston,
he was orphaned 1811, and joined the army but
was court-martialled for neglect of duty. He
failed to earn a living by writing, became
addicted to alcohol, and in 1847 lost his
wife (commemorated in his poem Annabel Lee).
His verse, of haunting lyric beauty,
influenced the French Symbolists (for
example, Ulalume and The Bells).