Gothic Poetry Essay

480 Words2 Pages
There are many different ways that people are entertained by reading material. Poe has a striking way of describing women with undying devotion. Weather that is about one that is dead as in “The Raven” or one who is vibrant with life as in “To Helen”. Both these pieces use Allusion besides symbolizes that give the audience completes opposite types of reading material. There are many different ways that people look at what a raven symbolizes. In Poe’s “the Raven” it is very evident that the raven is a symbol of a lot of emotion combined with loneliness, but still there is a clear understanding of reality. Poe uses the sound of the “O” in words like “Lenore” and Nevermore” to give that more sinister, gothic sound. When the raven is in the room, “the air [grow] denser”(129). This affects the way you feel as the reader besides the narrator who already has a dark mental state. Edgar Allen Poe has a sad way of looking at a woman who is dying as a thing of beauty, in “The Raven”, man morns the death of his love “Lenore”. Use of allusion to complete the dark feel of the story is done when Poe states the narrator is reading, “lore” in “many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore”, Alluding to possible dark magical reading, whereas, in “To Helen” the feel of the story is the direct opposite of “The Raven”. Poe uses allusion in a light beautiful way when he eludes that Helen is like the Greek goddess or even Helen of Troy both being women who possess the most beauty in history. He does this when he says, “Helen, thy beauty is to me / like those Nicean barks of yore”, which are sail boats that were used in ancient history times. This poem is rejoicing the wonder of women and the power they possess in this world both in the physical and spiritual sense. The words he uses to describe her beauty are, “thy beauty is to me...”, “Thy hyacinth hair, they classic
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