As Edgar Allan Poe aged, this disease became apparent. 61% of manic depressives abuse alcohol or drugs and Edgar Allan Poe was a user of drugs (liquid opium) and alcohol. Unfortunately, Poe died at the age of 40 after being found semi-conscious and apparently drunk. No one really knows what caused Edgar Allan Poe's death. (Birch) Without Poe suffering from mood swings he would not have created beautiful and touching poems. For example, The Crow, “Ah, I distinctly remember it was in the dreary December; And every single dying ember created its ghost on the floor. ” (Poe 887) This poem shows how Edgar Allan Poe used his melancholy to create the