t. After a particularly bitter argument, one night, a frustrated Edgar left home. He decided to head for Boston. He sailed north to New England on April 3, 1827. Edgar Allan Poe arrived in Boston in 1827, filled with all the indignation and pride he could muster. He was determined to prove to his foster father, and to all those who doubted him, that he was capable of making his own way in the world. He persuaded Calvin F.S. Thomas to print some of his early poems in a small pamphlet. It was called "Tamerlane and Other Poems", and the title page said simply 'By a Bostonian.'Unfortunately, the cost of publishing the book left Poe nearly destitute, unemployed, and probably in debt. Rather than face the humiliation of asking John Allan for more money he joined the U.S. Army. On May 26, 1827, Edgar Allan Poe enlisted under the name Edgar A. Perry. He stated his age as twenty-two, although he was just eighteen. In his two years in the Army, he rose to be regimental sergeant major. But he wanted to become an officer, thinking that such advancement would restore him to Allan's favor. After the death of Mrs. Allan in 1829, Poe and Allan were temporarily reconciled. With Allan's help Poe was granted an honorable discharge from the Army. He then sought enrollment in the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.Poe waited for news of acceptance for more than a year. In the meantime he lived in Baltimore, Maryland, with his father's widowed sister, Maria Clemm, and her young daughter, Virginia. While there he published another volume of poetry, "Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems" (1829). This time the book was published, not anonymously, but under the name Edgar A. Poe, where the middle initial acknowledged John Allan's name. On July 1, 1830, he was sworn in as a West Point cadet. He hated the discipline and the restraint of the school. When John Allan married again, Poe lost all chance of becoming his heir. He deliberately neglected ...
