Poe's psychologically stirring tales examining the depths of the human psyche earned him much fame during his lifetime and after his death. His life was marked by tragedy at an early age (his parents died before he was three) and in his oft-cited works we can see his darkly passionate sensibility: a tormented and sometimes neurotic obsession with death and violence and a general appreciation for the beautiful and tragic mysteries of life. Those who dream during the day are aware of many things that escape those who dream only at night. — "Elonora." Poe's literary criticisms of poetry and the art of short story writing include "The Poetic Principle" and "The Philosophy of Composition." Numerous collections of his works have been published, and many of them have served as inspiration for popular television and film adaptations including "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Black Cat" and "The Raven." He has been the subject of numerous biographers and has significantly influenced many other authors well into the 21st century. Edgar Poe was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of actors Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins (1787-1811) and David Poe (1784-1810). He had a brother named William Henry (1807-1831) and a sister Rosalie (1811-1874). After the death of his parents Edgar was taken in by Frances (d. 1829) and John Allan (d. 1834), a wealthy merchant from Richmond, Virginia. Young Edgar traveled with the Allans to England in 1815 and attended school in Chelsea. In 1820 he returned to Richmond where he attended the University of Virginia and studied Latin and poetry and also enjoyed swimming and acting. While at school he became estranged from his adoptive father after accumulating gambling debts. Unable to pay them or support him... mid-paper... he could start his own magazine The Stylus. There are conflicting accounts of Edgar Allan Poe's final days and the cause of his death. Some say he died of alcoholism, others claim he was murdered and various illnesses have also been attributed to him. Most say he was found unconscious on the street and admitted to Washington College Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. He died shortly thereafter, on October 7, 1849, and was buried unceremoniously in an unmarked grave in Baltimore's Old Westminster Burying Ground. On this original site now stands a stone with the engraving of a raven and the inscription;Quoth the Raven, NevermoreOriginal Burial Place ofEdgar Allan PoeFrom October 9, 1849To November 17, 1875Mrs. Marian Clemm, his mother-in-law is on his right and Virginia PoeHis wife, on his left. Below the monument erected to him in this cemetery