How scantily Poe appreciated and improved the advantages of this
kindness he himself confesses in a letter to Lowell in 1844. "I have
been too deeply conscious of the mutability and evanescence of
temporal things to give any continuous effort to anything--to be
consistent in anything. My life has been _whim_--impulse--passion--a
longing for solitude--a scorn of all things present in an earnest
desire for the future." He was a dreamer who had a fair chance to be
happy, but he flung the opportunity away. He was a spoiled child who
remained ignorant of life even unto his death.
He entered the University of Virginia in 1826, where his conduct was
so bad that he was, after a year, removed from the college. This
action broke the strong friendship Mr. Allan had long held for his
adopted son. Poe, urged by a hot temper or possibly by a remorse for
his actions, ran away and enlisted in the regular army. In 1829 Mr.
Allan became partially reconciled with Poe, and again came to his
assistance. In 1830 Poe entered West Point, but was there only a short
time when he was dismissed for wilful neglect of duty.
Following this dismissal Poe went to Baltimore, where he did hack work
for newspapers. This was the beginning of a process of writing that
has brought him high rank and an imperishable honor. His narrative is
clear, compressed, and powerful, and throughout his writings choice
symbols abound.
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