To My Mother

The poem “To My Mother” is one of Poe’s most intimate and deeply personal poems. Though the reader cannot assume that the poet is the speaker of a poem, this poem can be uniquely understood considering the personal details of Poe’s life. The poem was published in 1849, and Poe’s wife, Virginia, died two years earlier from tuberculosis, a long-standing illness that she suffered from for years before she passed. The statement that Virginia’s spirit was set “free” (Line 8) when she died alludes to the pain and suffering that Virginia experienced for so many years due to her debilitating respiratory illness. Though the poem is an ode to mothers and a tender expression of the idea that motherhood means far more than blood relation, the poem is also a sorrowful expression of loss over the death of his young wife at the age of 24.

Maria, Poe's aunt on his biological father’s side, was an important figure in Poe’s life before he wed Virginia: When Poe sought refuge in Baltimore in 1831, he stayed with Maria. Though Poe never knew his biological father, Maria gave him a place to stay. While Poe and Clemm had some disagreements (one issue was the fact that Poe’s father’s family criticized Poe’s deceased biological mother for her profession as an actress, which was considered disreputable at the time), Maria was there for Poe and supported his marriage to Virginia.