Helen vs Helen

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Queen Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of men during the battle of Troy in Greek history. She greatly impacted the lives of men and woman around her, and many mixed emotions toward her were felt. Edgar Allen Poe, a famous author, whom wrote “To Helen”, a poem, written from the eyes of Greek King, Menelaus, illustrates his deep and powerful feelings for the beautiful Helen of Troy. However, Hilda Doolittle’s “Helen” is a poem written in the viewpoint of the Greek civilians whom reflect great hatred toward Queen Helen. Their poems consist of imagery and diction within the writing to demonstrate the tones in which contrast admiration and adoration to hatred and cruelty. Each author used diction to better portray the tone in their writings. In “To Helen”, King Menelaus is simply love struck by the most beautiful woman in the world. He cannot help but to adore and admire Helen. Edgar Allen Poe creates a mood or feeling of adoration by choosing words such as “gently, perfumed, and beauty”. He also selected the word “desperate” to show King Menelaus’ longing to be with a woman as beautiful and perfect as Helen. In contrast to Poe, Hilda Doolittle creates a feeling of hatred and cruelty in “Helen.” The diction mentions words such as “still eyes, won, and white” to make the reader think of cold, harsh feelings which resemble death. Also, “hate and revile” show Greece’s dark, cold, hatred toward Helen. Imagery in each poem contrasts one another, their diction coming together to create different moods and pictures in the mind of the reader. Edgar Allen Poe uses “gently, o’er a perfumed sea,” in his poem to describe the image as a calm, fragile, yet beautiful fragrance at the sandy shore. By creating an image of natural beauty, the reader can infer how deep, strong, and admiring King Menelaus felt about his

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