In 1827 Poe joined the army under the name Edgar A. Perry. He rose quickly through the ranks—most notably learning cannon drill—but suffered as a social misfit in the field and at West Point, where legends about a brilliantly defiant jester still abound. Shortly after being dismissed from the Military Academy for neglecting his duties, Poe published his third book of verse, Poems (1831), which he dedicated to his fellow West Point cadets and funded through subscriptions to them.
Hecker explores these events, filling in biographical gaps and drawing connections to Poe's poetic vision. With a foreword by poet and Poe critic Daniel Hoffman and an afterword by Gerard A. McGowan addressing the martial element in the poems "Tamerlane" and "To Helen," among others, Private Perry and Mister Poe offers the definitive statement about Poe's military experience while making the early versions of many of his most famous poems widely available.
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