Quoth the Raven, "Happy Birthday"

American poet and story writer Edgar Allan Poe was born on this day in 1809.

At one time Poe was called "America's most famous man of letters." He was born in Boston, orphaned in dire poverty in 1811, and subsequently raised by Virginia merchant John Allan.

Poe is best remembered for his poetry and for his suspense-filled short stories. "The Raven," perhaps his most familiar poem, starts with these familiar lines:

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door—
Only this, and nothing more."

Pictured: Roderick Mead, 1900–71, Bird of Prey, about 1940s, wood engraving on paper, 8 x 10 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Roderick Mead.