inside the pain and the heartache began to burn a hole through his soul (Knapp 14).Poe had one friend that he could trust in, Robert Stanard. He often invited Poe to his home. Poe became even closer with Robert's mother, Mrs. Helen Stanard. This woman inspired one of his most famous poems, "To Helen". She would listen to his problems and comfort him as if he was her own. Poe thought of her as the mother that he never had (Knapp 15). He loved her very dearly, but as it always seemed in Poe's life, everything that he found comfort or joy in was ripped away bringing step by step closer to insanity. "Helen died of a brain tumor on April 28, 1824" (Knapp 15).With all the hurt, the disgust, and sorrow in Poe's life, it must have seemed that his writings were all that he had to keep him going. I believe that if it had not been for his writings, he would not have made it past this point. It would be hard for any human being to go on with life in a normal fashion with the things he had seen in his life. His writings let him express himself in ways that he would have never been allowed to otherwise. All of these things going on in his childhood spawned the man that Poe was known to be. His experiences brought about the motto that is mentioned in "The Cask of Amontillado". By this time he is almost to the point that he just couldn't take it anymore. His fantasy was slowly evolving into wanting to see the ones who caused his pain suffering.The next part of Poe's devastating life came to be when he met his first love, Sarah Elmira Royster. During his engagement with her, he began to attend the University of Virginia. Allan slowly began to cut off funds to Poe. Poe had nothing. He began to gamble to try to earn money for school. During this time, he began to drink. This is where the next set of problems began (Knapp 16-17). Poe continuously wrote to Sarah, but never received replies. He later found out that her father had interc...
