It is more than probable that I am not understood; but I fear, indeed, that it is in no manner possible to convey to the mind of the merely general reader, an adequate idea of that nervous intensity of interest with which, in my case, the powers of meditation (not to speak technically) busied and buried themselves, in the contemplation of even the most ordinary objects of the universe.

Jefferson had enacted a system of student self-government allowing students to choose their own studies make their own arrangements for boarding and report all wrongdoing to the faculty. Though it made Poe a household name almost instantly he was paid only $9 for its publication. Legacy


Literary influence
During his lifetime Poe was mostly recognized as a literary critic.

He began planning to produce his own journal The Penn (later renamed The Stylus) though he died before it could be produced. Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan of Richmond Virginia but they never formally adopted him. In January 1845 Poe publiEdgar Allan Poed his poem "The Raven" to instant success.