Edgar Allan Poe’s famous poem “The Raven,” beginning “Once
upon a midnight dreary,”was published on this day in the New
York Evening Mirror.

Poe’s dark and macabre work reflected his own tumultuous and
difficult life. Born in Boston in 1809, Poe was orphaned at age
three and went to live with the family of a Richmond, Virginia, businessman. Poe studied at the University of Virginia but was
expelled for gambling. He later enrolled briefly at a military
academy. 

     
      
       
Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849)