Feeling an
insatiable ambition to become an author, Poe neglected his duties at West
Point, and he was, fortunately for literature, discharged at the age of
twenty-two.
HIS GREAT STRUGGLE.--Soon after leaving West Point, Poe went to his kindred
in Baltimore. In a garret in that southern city, he first discovered his
power in writing prose tales. In 1833 his story, _MS. Found in a Bottle_,
won a prize of one hundred dollars offered by a Baltimore paper. In 1834
Mr. Allan died without mentioning Poe in his will; and in spite of his
utmost literary efforts, Poe had to borrow money to keep from starving.
After struggling for four years in Baltimore, he went to Richmond and
became editor of the _Southern Literary Messenger_. He worked very hard in
this position, sometimes contributing to a single number as much as forty
pages of matter, mostly editorials and criticisms of books. In Baltimore he
had tested his power of writing short stories, but in Richmond his work
laid the foundation of his reputation as a literary critic. While here, he
married his cousin, Virginia Clemm. Perhaps it was irregular habits that
caused him to lose the profitable editorship of the _Messenger_ soon after
he married.
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