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Abstract:Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was a poet,short-story writer,and critic. To Helen is one of lyric poetry written by Romantic poet Edgar Allen Poe. Although this poem is very short,the poem is very beautiful,especially beauty of imagery. To Helen is clearly a love song,a poem addressed to a woman. In the paper,something about the beauty of imagery will be discussed from several aspects. It will be discussed in different stanzas. Three beauties will also be discussed,Helen of Troy,the fairy in the water named Naiad and the heart goddess named Psyche. They are the representatives of beauty and the poet's ideal female figures.
Key Words:Edgar Allan Poe;To Helen;Beauty of Imagery;Helen of Troy;The Fairy in the Water Named Naiad;The Heart Goddess Named Psyche
1、Introduction
1.1An Introduction to the Poet
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was a poet,short-story writer,and critic.(1)During his prolific writing career,Poe would produce many volumes of verse,short stories,and criticism. He was also a man whose life was characterized by frequent financial difficulties,failed or tragic love affairs and marriages,and a seemingly unquenchable romantic bent. A number of his love affairs served him well as the source of ideas for his poems,among which To Helen must be numbered. It is the purpose of this essay to examine the poem,attempting to determine whether Poe saw this particular poem as a serious artistic work or a piece of deliberate flattery created in hopes of convincing its recipient to marry him and thus provide him with much-needed financial security.(2)It will be argued that while Poe may have had ulterior motives in addressing Sarah Helen Whitman (herself a respected poet); he was sufficiently concerned with his artistic legacy to use his skills effectively. The ultimate effect,however,is one of self-serving flattery and of an attempt to ingratiate oneself with the recipient of the poem.(3)
1.2An Introduction to the Poem
According to the poet,Edgar Allan Poe's poem To Helen was inspired by Sarah Helen Whitman. To Helen is clearly a love song,a poem addressed to a woman. The poem was written for the beautiful young mother of one of Poe's boyhood friends---"the first purely ideal love of my soul". The woman was Mrs. Jane Stith Stanard. From the geography and the background of history in the poem,the adoration to Mrs. Stanard and the paragon of beauty named Helen in the Greek epic Iliad were combined. In the last stanza,the love to the beauty sublimated to the art even to pursue of truth,the good and the beauty. In the heart of the westerners ancient Greece and Roman have become one kind of ideal realm,where everything was perfection itself.(4)
1.3An Introduction to the Paper
In the paper,something about the beauty of imagery will be discussed from several aspects. It will be discussed in different stanzas. Three beauties will also be discussed,Helen of Troy,the fairy in the water named Naiad and the heart goddess named Psyche. They are the representatives of beauty and the poet's ideal female figures.
2、Development
2.1 A General Analysis of the Poem
In the first stanza,Helen’s beauty is soothing. It provides security and safety. Perhaps the reader is expected to associate Marlowe’s famous line:Was this the face that launched a thousand ships? To Helen's beauty,for her beauty,is as hypnotic for the speaker as the ships that transported another wanderer-Ulysses-home from Troy.(5)
Throughout the poem,Poe uses allusions to classical names and places,as well as certain kinds of images to create the impression of a far-off idealized,unreal woman,like a Greek statue. Words that support the image of an ideal woman are "hyacinth" and "classic" "Naiad airs" and "statue-like". Helen stands,not like a real woman,but like a saint in a "windows-niche". She becomes a symbol both of beauty and of frustration,a romantically idealized,yet inaccessible image of the heart's desire.(6)
It's believed that few American poets can surpass Poe's ability in the use of English as a medium of pure musical and rhythmic beauty. Poe made good use of rhythm is not regular,which shows the poet was excited,the poem is a haunting melody done with extreme artistry of alliteration as in "weary" and "way-worn",assonance as in "wont to roam" and masculine end rhyme,for example,with "me" rhythm with "sea",the rhyme scheme is ababb,cdcec,fggfg. In the poem,words containing vowels or diphthongs were used to bring about the slow rhythm which reveals the speaker's admiration and deep regret and suggest a theme that beauty is soothing yet inaccessible. In light of analysis above,the general tone of the poem is passionate and regretful.(7)
2.2 An Analysis of Beauty of Imagery in Three Stanzas
Through the analysis of the whole poem,it can be seen that the poem has a big imagery,which is,"homing". Three stanzas are developed with this theme. Although the imagery is simple,the poem constructs and enriches the imagery with the ingenious conception,rich imaginations and beautiful language,which makes it seen on the specific surface and the abstract surface.(8)
2.2.1 The Imagery in the First Stanza
In the first stanza,the poem constructs the imagery of "homing". In this imagery,there is a character---the weary,way-worn wanderer. There is a tool---those Nicean barks of yore. There is an action---skating over the sea. There is a purpose---his own native shore. There is a feeling---gently,o'er a perfumed sea. The poet not only uses an attributive clause,several adjective words (perfumed,way-worn,and weary) and an adverb word (gently) to sketch the whole imagery. A homing some becomes to sing. Beauty can be seen in the imagery.(9)The tool is beautiful---the beauty of Helen; the action is beautiful---the weary wanderer finally ends up with the longtime sailing to go home. The destination is beautiful---sweet,warm,comfortable and stable hometown; the mood is beautiful---gently; the voyage is beautiful---the sea is perfumed. The more important is that the supporter of the imagery is different. It is the good-looking of Helen. So the basis of the imagery is also beautiful,and it is Helen's beauty.(10)
Key Words:Edgar Allan Poe;To Helen;Beauty of Imagery;Helen of Troy;The Fairy in the Water Named Naiad;The Heart Goddess Named Psyche
1、Introduction
1.1An Introduction to the Poet
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was a poet,short-story writer,and critic.(1)During his prolific writing career,Poe would produce many volumes of verse,short stories,and criticism. He was also a man whose life was characterized by frequent financial difficulties,failed or tragic love affairs and marriages,and a seemingly unquenchable romantic bent. A number of his love affairs served him well as the source of ideas for his poems,among which To Helen must be numbered. It is the purpose of this essay to examine the poem,attempting to determine whether Poe saw this particular poem as a serious artistic work or a piece of deliberate flattery created in hopes of convincing its recipient to marry him and thus provide him with much-needed financial security.(2)It will be argued that while Poe may have had ulterior motives in addressing Sarah Helen Whitman (herself a respected poet); he was sufficiently concerned with his artistic legacy to use his skills effectively. The ultimate effect,however,is one of self-serving flattery and of an attempt to ingratiate oneself with the recipient of the poem.(3)
1.2An Introduction to the Poem
According to the poet,Edgar Allan Poe's poem To Helen was inspired by Sarah Helen Whitman. To Helen is clearly a love song,a poem addressed to a woman. The poem was written for the beautiful young mother of one of Poe's boyhood friends---"the first purely ideal love of my soul". The woman was Mrs. Jane Stith Stanard. From the geography and the background of history in the poem,the adoration to Mrs. Stanard and the paragon of beauty named Helen in the Greek epic Iliad were combined. In the last stanza,the love to the beauty sublimated to the art even to pursue of truth,the good and the beauty. In the heart of the westerners ancient Greece and Roman have become one kind of ideal realm,where everything was perfection itself.(4)
1.3An Introduction to the Paper
In the paper,something about the beauty of imagery will be discussed from several aspects. It will be discussed in different stanzas. Three beauties will also be discussed,Helen of Troy,the fairy in the water named Naiad and the heart goddess named Psyche. They are the representatives of beauty and the poet's ideal female figures.
2、Development
2.1 A General Analysis of the Poem
In the first stanza,Helen’s beauty is soothing. It provides security and safety. Perhaps the reader is expected to associate Marlowe’s famous line:Was this the face that launched a thousand ships? To Helen's beauty,for her beauty,is as hypnotic for the speaker as the ships that transported another wanderer-Ulysses-home from Troy.(5)
Throughout the poem,Poe uses allusions to classical names and places,as well as certain kinds of images to create the impression of a far-off idealized,unreal woman,like a Greek statue. Words that support the image of an ideal woman are "hyacinth" and "classic" "Naiad airs" and "statue-like". Helen stands,not like a real woman,but like a saint in a "windows-niche". She becomes a symbol both of beauty and of frustration,a romantically idealized,yet inaccessible image of the heart's desire.(6)
It's believed that few American poets can surpass Poe's ability in the use of English as a medium of pure musical and rhythmic beauty. Poe made good use of rhythm is not regular,which shows the poet was excited,the poem is a haunting melody done with extreme artistry of alliteration as in "weary" and "way-worn",assonance as in "wont to roam" and masculine end rhyme,for example,with "me" rhythm with "sea",the rhyme scheme is ababb,cdcec,fggfg. In the poem,words containing vowels or diphthongs were used to bring about the slow rhythm which reveals the speaker's admiration and deep regret and suggest a theme that beauty is soothing yet inaccessible. In light of analysis above,the general tone of the poem is passionate and regretful.(7)
2.2 An Analysis of Beauty of Imagery in Three Stanzas
Through the analysis of the whole poem,it can be seen that the poem has a big imagery,which is,"homing". Three stanzas are developed with this theme. Although the imagery is simple,the poem constructs and enriches the imagery with the ingenious conception,rich imaginations and beautiful language,which makes it seen on the specific surface and the abstract surface.(8)
2.2.1 The Imagery in the First Stanza
In the first stanza,the poem constructs the imagery of "homing". In this imagery,there is a character---the weary,way-worn wanderer. There is a tool---those Nicean barks of yore. There is an action---skating over the sea. There is a purpose---his own native shore. There is a feeling---gently,o'er a perfumed sea. The poet not only uses an attributive clause,several adjective words (perfumed,way-worn,and weary) and an adverb word (gently) to sketch the whole imagery. A homing some becomes to sing. Beauty can be seen in the imagery.(9)The tool is beautiful---the beauty of Helen; the action is beautiful---the weary wanderer finally ends up with the longtime sailing to go home. The destination is beautiful---sweet,warm,comfortable and stable hometown; the mood is beautiful---gently; the voyage is beautiful---the sea is perfumed. The more important is that the supporter of the imagery is different. It is the good-looking of Helen. So the basis of the imagery is also beautiful,and it is Helen's beauty.(10)