7. Poe Was Obsessed With Cats And Would Regularly Write With One On His Shoulder
When writing a poem, Poe is believed to have sat his Siamese cat on to his shoulder in order to draw inspiration and help him to relax and focus on the work. This goes completely against the image of the man who gouges out the eyes of a feline in Poe's 1843 work "The Black Cat", because he did in fact love the animals. He also had a tortoiseshell feline named Catterina, who supposedly died almost immediately after Poe passed away.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
