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Study
Guide Prepared by Michael J. Cummings...©
2005
Revised
in 2011.©
Type
of Work
......."To
Helen" is a lyric poem extolling
the beauty of a woman. Poe wrote the poem in 1831 and later revised it.
The Southern Literary Messenger published it in March 1836 and Graham's
Magazine in September 1841. The text on this page is the 1841 version.
Background
.......Edgar
Allan Poe wrote “To Helen" as a reflection on the beauty of Mrs. Jane Stith
Stanard, of Richmond, Va., who died in 1824. She was the mother of one
of Poe’s school classmates, Robert Stanard. When Robert invited Edgar,
then 14, to his home (at 19th and East Grace Streets in Richmond) in 1823,
Poe was greatly taken with the 27-year-old woman, who is said to have urged
him to write poetry. He was later to write that she was his first real
love.
Theme
.......The
theme of this short poem is the beauty of a woman with whom Poe became
acquainted when he was 14. Apparently she treated him kindly and may have
urged him—or perhaps inspired him—to
write poetry. Beauty, as Poe uses the word in the poem, appears
to refer to the woman's soul as well as her body. On the one hand, he represents
her as Helen of Troy—the quintessence of physical
beauty—at the beginning of the poem. On the
other, he represents her as Psyche—the quintessence
of soulful beauty—at the end of the poem.
In Greek, psyche means
soul. For further information on Helen
of Troy and Psyche, see the
comments on the text of
the poem.
Summary
of the Poem
.......Poe
opens the poem with a simile—“Helen, thy beauty
is to me / Like those Nicéan barks of yore"—that
compares the beauty of Helen (Mrs. Stanard, Background)
with small sailing boats (barks) that carried home travelers in ancient
times. He extends this boat imagery into the second stanza, when he says
Helen brought him home to the shores of the greatest civilizations of antiquity,
classical Greece and Rome. It may well have been that Mrs. Stanard’s beauty
and other admirable qualities, as well as her taking notice of Poe’s writing
ability, helped inspire him to write poetry that mimicked in some ways
the classical tradition of Greece and Rome. Certainly the poem’s allusions
to mythology and the classical age suggest that he had a grounding in,
and a fondness for, ancient history and literature.
.......In
the final stanza of the poem, Poe imagines that Mrs. Stanard (Helen) is
standing before him in a recess or alcove in front of a window. She is
holding an agate lamp, as the beautiful Psyche did when she discovered
the identity of Eros (Cupid). For further information on the agate lamp,
Psyche, and Eros, see the comments opposite the third stanza (below).
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To
Helen
1841 Version
By Edgar Allan Poe
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Text With Explanatory
Notes
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1
Helen,
thy beauty is to me
Like those Nicéan barks of yore,
That
gently, o'er a perfumed sea,
The weary, wayworn wanderer bore
To
his own native shore.
Helen: An allusion
to Helen of Troy in Greek mythology. Helen, the wife of King Menelaus of
Greece, was the most beautiful woman in the world. After a Trojan prince
named Paris abducted her, the Greeks declared war on the Trojans, fighting
a 10-year battle that ended in victory and the restoration of Greek honor.
Helen returned to Greece with Menelaus.
Nicéan:
Of or from Nicea (also spelled Nicaea), a city in ancient Bithynia (now
part of present-day Turkey) near the site of the Trojan War.
barks: Small sailing
vessels.
2
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.
wont: Accustomed to
(usually followed by an infinitive, such as to roam in the first
line of this stanza).
 Naiad:
Naiads were minor nature goddesses in Greek and Roman mythology. They inhabited
and presided over rivers, lakes, streams, and fountains.
Naiad airs: Peaceful,
gentle breezes or qualities
the glory that . . .Rome:
These last two lines, beginning with the glory that was, are among
the most frequently quoted lines in world literature. Writers and speakers
quote these lines to evoke the splendor of classical antiquity. The alliteration
of glory, Greece, and grandeur helps to make the lines
memorable.
3
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!
agate: A variety of
chalcedony (kal SED uh ne), a semiprecious translucent stone with colored
stripes or bands. The marbles that children shoot with a flick of the thumb
are usually made of agate (although some imitations are made of glass).
agate lamp: Burning
lamp made of agate.
Psyche: In Greek
and Roman mythology, Psyche was a beautiful princess dear to the god of
love, Eros (Cupid), who would visit her in a darkened room in a palace.
One night she used an agate lamp to discover his identity. Later, at the
urging of Eros, Zeus gave her the gift of immortality. Eros then married
her.
from
the regions which are Holy Land: From ancient Greece and Rome; from
the memory Poe had of Mrs. Stanard (Background).
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Meter
The
meter consists mainly of trimeters and tetrameters, with a dimeter at the
end. Following are examples.
......1..................2...............3..................4
Like
THOSE..|..Ni
CÉ..|..an
BARKS..|..of
YORE............(line
2, iambic tetrameter)
.......1.................2..............3..............4
That
GENT..|..ly,
O'ER..|..a
PER..|..fumed
SEA.............(line
3, iambic tetrameter)
.....1.............2................3
To
HIS..|..own
NA..|..tive
SHORE.................................(line
5, iambic trimeter)
.......1...................2..................3
To
the GLOR..|..y
THAT..|..was
GREECE.....................(line
9, trimeter with anapest and an iamb)
....1...............2
Are
HO..|..ly-
LAND....................................................(line
15, iambic dimeter)
End RhymeThe end rhyme of the poem
is as follows:
First stanza, ababb
Second stanza, cdcdc
Third stanza, effef
Note that face
and Greece (lnes 7 and 9) are similar only in that they have one
syllable and the same ending, -ce. The vowels a and ee
do not rhyme. Thus, face and Greece make up what is called
half-rhyme,
also known as near rhyme, oblique rhyme, and slant rhyme.Internal
Rhyme
The poem also contains internal
rhyme. Here are examples:
Helen, thy beauty
is to me (line
1)
That gently,
o'er a perfumed
sea
(line 3)
The weary, wayworn
wanderer bore (line
4)
On desperate seas long wont
to roam
(line 6)
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Figures of Speech.......Following
are examples of figures of speech in the poem. For definitions of figures
of speech, see Literary Terms.
Alliteration
The
weary,
wayworn
wanderer
bore
(line 5)
To
the glory
that was
Greece
And
the grandeur
that was
Rome.
(lines 9 and 10)
Anaphora
Thy
hyacinth hair, thy
classic face,
Thy
Naiad airs have brought me home (lines 7-8)
PersonificationOn desperate seas long wont
to roam (line 6)
Comparison of the seas
to a human. (Wont implies a conscious decision.)
Simile
Helen,
thy beauty is to
me
Like
those Nicéan barks of yore (lines 1-2)
Comparison of Helen's
beauty Nicéan barks
Lo!
in yon brilliant window-niche
How
statue-like I see thee stand (lines 11-11)
Comparison of the stance
of Helen to that of a statue
Biogragphy.......Edgar
Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston. After being orphaned
at age two, he was taken into the home of a childless couple—John
Allan, a successful businessman in Richmond, Va., and his wife. Allan was
believed to be Poe’s godfather. At age six, Poe went to England with the
Allans and was enrolled in schools there.
.......After
he returned with the Allans to the U.S. in 1820, he studied at private
schools, then attended the University of Virginia and the U.S. Military
Academy, but did not complete studies at either school. After beginning
his literary career as a poet and prose writer, he married his young cousin,
Virginia Clemm. He worked for several magazines and joined the staff of
the New York Mirror newspaper in 1844. All the while, he was battling
a drinking problem. After the Mirror published his poem “The Raven"
in January 1845, Poe achieved national and international fame.
.......Besides
pioneering the development of the short story, Poe invented the format
for the detective story as we know it today. He also was an outstanding
literary critic. Despite the acclaim he received, he was never really happy
because of his drinking and because of the deaths of several people close
to him, including his wife in 1847. He frequently had trouble paying his
debts. It is believed that heavy drinking was a contributing cause of his
death in Baltimore on October 7, 1849.
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Study Questions and Writing
Topics
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Poe writes often about beauty.
He and other writers use beautiful to describe women, flowers, babies,
landscapes, sunsets, homes, and so on. Write an essay that attempts to
define beauty. Use library research and the Internet. Include quotations
from poetry.
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Briefly explain why Poe uses
glory in reference to ancient Greece and grandeur in reference
to ancient Rome.
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Poe compares Helen to Psyche,
beloved of Eros (Cupid) in ancient mythology. Write an essay informing
your readers about the myth of Cupid and Psyche.
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Do archaic or quaint words such
a thy, thee, lo, and yon enhance the effect
of the poem? Explain your answer.
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