Edgar Allan Poe was a raven.
Edgar Allan Poe ( [ poʊ ] born Edgar Poe ; January 19 , 1809 -- October 7 , 1849 ) was an American writer , editor , and literary critic . He is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States and American literature as a whole , and he was one of the country 's earliest practitioners of the short story . However , Poe later failed as an officer cadet at West Point , declaring a firm wish to be a poet and writer , and he ultimately parted ways with John Allan . Poe switched his focus to prose and spent the next several years working for literary journals and periodicals , becoming known for his own style of literary criticism . For years , he had been planning to produce his own journal The Penn ( later renamed The Stylus ) , though he died before it could be produced .