Most widely known for his short stories and poems, Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar's real parents died when he was three. Orphaned, he was taken to the home of John Allan, who sent him to study in England from 1815 through 1820. In 1826 he entered the University of Virginia, but left for Baltimore after one year. Feeling restless, Poe joined the army. Army life didn't suit Edgar well and he had his stepfather, John Allan, secure him a release. Poe entered West Point on his own dime and wrote several books there. After leaving West Point, Poe returned to Baltimore with his widowed aunt and cousin Virginia. In 1835 Poe decided to return to Richmond with Virginia. He became the editor of a local paper ad married Virginia, his barley 14-year-old cousin. While in Richmond Virginia fell fatally ill, and passed away in 1847. This loss hit Poe extremely hard, but he continued to write and lecture. Before his own death in the streets of Baltimore in 1849, Poe reconciled Sarah Royster, the fiancée he had left at the University of Virginia 25 years earlier. Poe as a writer found protection in writing his feelings out on the page. He experienced the loss of the women he loved so deeply at several times in his life. Many of the women in his life were sickly at one time during his life, like his stepmother and wife. In several of his pieces such as "The Raven", "Annabel Lee", and "Ulalume" the main character grieves or is grieving over the loss of a loved one. He wrote these during the period of grief previous to and following the death of his wife, Virginia. Poe's love life often paralleled the women who were the subjects of his works.
             "The Raven" is one of Poe's most famous short stories. He writes of a man who is overwhelmed with grief over the loss of his beloved Lenore. He tries to find solace from his pain but is interrupted by an anonymous visitor. Written in 1845, Poe is
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