Irony In Poe's Writings Irony can be simply defined as the unexpected twist. Ironies occur in daily life. Edgar Allan Poe was excellent at writing ironies into his stories. He was born in the nineteenth century and raised by his adoptive parents, who caused him to have a difficult life. He was very intelligent, but lonely, because his peers alienated him. Later he became America’s first great editor and critic, as well as the father of the short story and the detective story. Edgar Allan Poe was an author who captured irony in every sense of the word. “The Tell-Tale Heart” is probably the most popular