Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe

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Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe (August 15, 1822 — January 30, 1847), born Virginia Eliza Clemm, was the wife of Edgar Allan Poe.

Virginia Clemm and Edgar Allan Poe, who were first cousins, were married in 1836, when Virginia was 13. They were by all accounts a happy and devoted couple. But in 1842, Virginia Poe developed tuberculosis. Her health declined and she became an invalid, which drove Edgar Allan Poe into a deep depression. In a letter to a friend, Edgar Allan Poe described his resulting mental state: "I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity."^[#endnote_1]

Edgar Allan Poe's love for Virginia Poe, and the effect that her suffering and dying had upon him, are reflected in his tragic poems Annabel Lee and Ulalume, and indeed perhaps in the decline of his mental state in his last years.

Reference

↑ http://www.poeforward.com/virginiawomb/virginia/eveleth-1-4-1848.htm

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