life was full of emotional tribulations. In 1892, Robinson's father, Edward, died after a gradual deterioration. By 1893 America was in a major depression. Edward Robinson had accumulated a considerable fortune that was critically reduced. 1896 was when Robinson's mother died of "black diphtheria." There were no morticians available, which caused the three sons to have to dig her grave and bury her. Then in September 1899 Dean died. Herman later made Emma promise that if he were to die that she would not marry Edwin. Herman did die in February 1909, and Emma kept her promise.Many critics reveal him as a dark mind dwelling on darker subjects. When Robinson was only six years of age he was quoting from Campbell's "Lochiel's Warning" and he read Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" to his mother while sitting on the kitchen floor. That is possibly what sparked his interest in poetry. Also when he was young he read medical books that belonged to his brother Dean. In those books he saw portraits of the human figure in various stages of deterioration. Diseases such as leprosy, elephantiasis, and falling of the womb rotted the figures.Ponderinglife and death as he witnessed the solemn processions moving slowly into a neighboring cemetery, made of this dark-eyed, sensitive man-child a frightened hypochondriac. A thousand times he may have pictured himself half-eaten through and chilled and already ripe for the graveyard beyond his father's home. He asked himself how soon he would follow to the grave his close friend, Harry Morrell, who was a victim of diphtheria at eleven years of age (Franchere, 15).It was when Robinson was in his late twenties that his first book was published in New York City. Henry Richards, Jr. was a teacher and one of his students was Kermit, a son of Theodore Roosevelt. Kermit Conferred with his teacher about books he should read and Henry Richards, Jr. gave him a copy of The Children of the Night. Kermit was...
