Probably the most important single figure in nineteenth-century American literature, Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49) exerted an enormous influence over later writers, especially French Symbolist poets, including Baudelaire and Mallarme. Through them, he affected the entire field of modern literature from THE WASTE LAND to LOLITA. Probably best known for his macabre short stories, including THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER and THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM, Poe's influence was spread primarily through his poems and essays, which are here reprinted. The current volume includes all his extant poems and extensive selections from his essays on poetry.