Edgar Allan Poe

Poe, Edgar Allan (1809–49), U.S. short-story writer, poet, and critic, famous for his tales of mystery and the macabre, such as “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841) and “The Purloined Letter” (1844), prototypes of the detective story, and “The Fall of the House of Usher” (1839). His poems, including “The Raven” (1845) and “Annabel Lee” (1849), are musical and striking in imagery. Poe discussed beauty and form in art in “The Philosophy of Composition” (1846), which influenced Charles Baudelaire and the French Symbolists.