William Henry Leonard Poe

William Henry Leonard Poe, often referred to as Henry Poe (January 30, 1807 – August 1, 1831), was an American sailor, amateur poet and the brother of Edgar Allan Poe and Rosalie Poe.

After the death of their parents, the three Poe children were split up: Henry lived with his grandparents in Baltimore, Maryland, while Edgar and Rosalie were cared for by two different families in Richmond, Virginia. Before the age of 20, Henry traveled around the globe by sea before returning to Baltimore and becoming a published poet and author. One of his works, The Pirate, was a fictionalized account of his brother's first relationship with Sarah Elmira Royster in Richmond. Henry died of tuberculosis in 1831 at the age of 24.

Henry Poe was an inspiration to his brother's life and writings and the two had similar writing styles. Edgar Allan Poe for a time used the alias "Henri Le Rennet", a name inspired by Henry. Henry's influence on Edgar's writing includes a character in the novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket and possibly the name of the title character in the poem "Lenore".

Biography

William Henry Leonard, who went by the name Henry, was born circa January 30, 1807, to traveling actors Eliza Poe and David Poe, Jr., four months after their troupe began performing in Boston. Eliza Poe died of tuberculosis on December 8, 1811, leaving her three children as orphans. while Edgar and Rosalie had been cared for by actor friends of their parents, namely Mr. and Mrs. Luke Usher.

Henry kept in touch with his younger brother Edgar sporadically as they grew up, often through letters but once he even visited Edgar in Richmond in the 1820s. Edgar wrote "The Happiest Day, The Happiest Hour" while he was serving in the Army. He sent the poem to Henry, who had it published in the September 15, 1827, issue of the North American, He was twenty-four. Henry's obituary misspelled his name as "W. H. Hope".

Influence Edgar Allan Poe was very close to his brother, as he wrote: "there can be no tie more strong than that of brother for brother — it is not so much that they love one another as that they both love the same parent." Poe may have also transformed his brother's name into the title character in his poem "Lenore".