After Edgar Allan Poe left Richmond he went to live with his aunt, Maria Clemm, and her daughter, Virginia Clemm. Edgar acted as a brother to his cousin Virginia during the time he lived with them and was not in the army. But when Virginia reached age 13, Edgar confessed his love for her and proposed. They were married May 26, 1826 and were said to live as brother and sister for the first couple years of their marriage. She was said to be the inspiration for Poe's poem Annabel Lee. Virginia acted as a mother to Poe, and when she died at the age of 25 in 1847, Edgar was heart broken and fell ill shortly after her funeral. Edgar later courted a fellow poet, Mrs. Elizabeth Ellet. When Poe became desperate for a wife, he proposed to the widow Mrs. Sarah Helen Whitman. She agreed to marriage at the promise that Poe never drank again. Unfortunately, this wedding never occurred because of Mrs. Whitman's disapproving mother. He was also interested in Mrs. Charles "Annie" Richmond. In the last year of his life, he was engaged to Mrs. Sarah Elmira Shelton, whom he had known in his boyhood as Miss Royster. Elmira was Edgar's teenage sweetheart, but their relationship had been broken off by disapproving parents. They were planning to marry in October when Poe died. Overall, Poe's relationships were always broken off by either death or other unfortunate circumstances.
After Edgar Allan Poe left Richmond he went to live with his aunt, Maria Clemm, and her daughter, Virginia Clemm. Edgar acted as a brother to his cousin Virginia during the time he lived with them and was not in the army. But when Virginia reached age 13, Edgar confessed his love for her and proposed. They were married May 26, 1826 and were said to live as brother and sister for the first couple years of their marriage. She was said to be the inspiration for Poe's poem Annabel Lee. Virginia acted as a mother to Poe, and when she died at the age of 25 in 1847, Edgar was heart broken and fell ill shortly after her funeral. Edgar later courted a fellow poet, Mrs. Elizabeth Ellet. When Poe became desperate for a wife, he proposed to the widow Mrs. Sarah Helen Whitman. She agreed to marriage at the promise that Poe never drank again. Unfortunately, this wedding never occurred because of Mrs. Whitman's disapproving mother. He was also interested in Mrs. Charles "Annie" Richmond. In the last year of his life, he was engaged to Mrs. Sarah Elmira Shelton, whom he had known in his boyhood as Miss Royster. Elmira was Edgar's teenage sweetheart, but their relationship had been broken off by disapproving parents. They were planning to marry in October when Poe died. Overall, Poe's relationships were always broken off by either death or other unfortunate circumstances.
Visit this site for more on the women in Edgar Allan Poe's Life:
Friends and Enemies: Women in the life of Edgar Allan Poe