The Lake

“The Lake” by Edgar Allan Poe was originally published in 1827 in Tamerlane and Other Poems. This poetry collection, subtitled By a Bostonian, was Poe’s first publication. Just a few years later, “The Lake” appeared in Poe’s collection titled “Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems” and included a new, anonymous dedication, “To —.”

“The Lake” is part of the Romantic and Gothic genres of poetry. Poe was inspired by the British Romantic poets, like Lord Byron, John Keats, and Percy Bysshe Shelley, who elevate beauty, nature, and the imagination. “The Lake” focuses on the theme of The Beauty of Nature with its motifs of water, wind, and earth. Poe also includes references to Hauntology and the Supernatural in “The Lake.”

Poet Biography

Poe was born in Boston in 1809. His parents were actors, but not long after Poe’s birth, his father disappeared and his mother died. Poe’s siblings were adopted by various families. Poe, however, became the foster child, but not the legal adoptee, of a tobacco merchant named John Allan in Richmond, Virginia. After attending boarding school, Poe briefly attended the University of Virginia, but had to leave when Allan would not pay outstanding debts.