To Helen by Edgar Allen Poe Analysis
“Helen, thy beauty is to me
Like those Nicean barks of yore
That gently, o'er a perfumed sea,
The weary, way-worn wanderer bore
To his own native shore.
On desperate seas long wont to roam,
Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face,
Thy Naiad airs have brought me home
To the glory that was Greece,
And the grandeur that was Rome.
Lo, in yon brilliant window-niche
How statue-like I see thee stand,
The agate lamp within thy hand,
Ah! Psyche, from the regions which
Are Holy Land!”
By Edgar Allan Poe
“To Helen” by Edgar Allan Poe is a poem about a man speaking about the beauty of a woman both in body – with the potential reference to Helen of Troy – and in spirit – comparing her to the quintessential beauty of Psyche. The beautiful woman appears in the poem to be a free spirit that reminds the storyteller of long gone times.
To accentuate this reference to her ancient beauty “To Helen” employs a strong use of Greek mythology with references to both the story of Psyche and Cupid, Helen of Troy, and possible Dionysos or Bacchus within the stanza’s of the poem.
The first stanza of “To Helen” describes the beauty of Helen akin to that of a boat bringing travellers home from a long time abroad. This can be seen in the second line; “Like those Nicean barks or yore” barks being the small sailing boat and Nicean being an ancient city that was near the Trojan War.
The Trojan War is one of the Western world’s most mythical battles where the Greek fleet fought against the city of Troy in a war that lasted for more than nine years. The battle began with Paris of Troy seducing Helen from her husband Menelaus the King of Sparta. The Trojan War is one of the most important battles in Greek mythology.
As the Helen in the poem is being compared, or may be, the Helen of Troy comparing her beauty to that of the woman who caused the weary travellers to become weary and home deprived to begin with due to the war their coming home from is rather ironic.
However this
Like those Nicean barks of yore
That gently, o'er a perfumed sea,
The weary, way-worn wanderer bore
To his own native shore.
On desperate seas long wont to roam,
Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face,
Thy Naiad airs have brought me home
To the glory that was Greece,
And the grandeur that was Rome.
Lo, in yon brilliant window-niche
How statue-like I see thee stand,
The agate lamp within thy hand,
Ah! Psyche, from the regions which
Are Holy Land!”
By Edgar Allan Poe
“To Helen” by Edgar Allan Poe is a poem about a man speaking about the beauty of a woman both in body – with the potential reference to Helen of Troy – and in spirit – comparing her to the quintessential beauty of Psyche. The beautiful woman appears in the poem to be a free spirit that reminds the storyteller of long gone times.
To accentuate this reference to her ancient beauty “To Helen” employs a strong use of Greek mythology with references to both the story of Psyche and Cupid, Helen of Troy, and possible Dionysos or Bacchus within the stanza’s of the poem.
The first stanza of “To Helen” describes the beauty of Helen akin to that of a boat bringing travellers home from a long time abroad. This can be seen in the second line; “Like those Nicean barks or yore” barks being the small sailing boat and Nicean being an ancient city that was near the Trojan War.
The Trojan War is one of the Western world’s most mythical battles where the Greek fleet fought against the city of Troy in a war that lasted for more than nine years. The battle began with Paris of Troy seducing Helen from her husband Menelaus the King of Sparta. The Trojan War is one of the most important battles in Greek mythology.
As the Helen in the poem is being compared, or may be, the Helen of Troy comparing her beauty to that of the woman who caused the weary travellers to become weary and home deprived to begin with due to the war their coming home from is rather ironic.
However this