On this day, October 7, 1849, Edgar Allan Poe died.

[ChazInAz]

1. Poor Poe.

I have always had a great deal of sympathy for the man. The portrait used here was taken a day after he attempted suicide by an overdose of laudanum. Despite his reputation, he wasn't familiar with the opium extract, and tried to drink it like brandy. It made him violently sick and gave him an horrendous hangover from the alcohol content. His fiancee` insisted that this photo be taken as a reminder to him of what happens when he falls off the Temperance Wagon. (He'd taken the Pledge and had been sober for quite some time.)
His asymmetrical face has always intrigued me, as it seemed to get progressively more lopsided as he aged, with his bonk eye wandering remarkably here. It makes me wonder if that's Bell's Palsy, or some other disorder.