To Helen By: Edgar Allen Poe

1. To HelenBy: Edgar Allen Poe Presented By: Chase Hancock- Grider

2. The Poem: 3 Stanzas 5 Lines per Stanza 15 Lines Poetic Elements: Rhyme Lyric Imagery Repetition To Helen By: Edgar Allen Poe Helen, thy beauty is to me Like those Nicéan 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!

3. Rhyme: Rhyme scheme (the pattern of rhyme per line) is odd. The pattern of double rhymes goes up and skips one line. Edgar Allen Poe usually had one rhyme scheme set; the same for every stanza. This poem was written and dedicated to the mother of a childhood friend. The effect that this woman had on him or his friend could be the reason of the odd rhyme scheme. To Helen By: Edgar Allen Poe Helen, thy beauty is to me ]A Like those Nicéan barks of yore, ]B That gently, o'er a perfumed sea, ]A The weary, way-worn wanderer bore ]B To his own native shore. ]B On desperate seas long wont to roam, ]C Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face, ]D Thy Naiad airs have brought me home ]C To the glory that was Greece, ]D And the grandeur that was Rome ]C Lo! in yon brilliant window-niche ]E How statue-like I see thee stand, ]F The agate lamp within thy hand! ]F Ah, Psyche, from the regions which ]E Are Holy-Land! ]F Face and Greece are approximate rhymes. These two words have the same ending but the endings do not sound exactly the same.

4. Imagery: To Helen By: Edgar Allen Poe Helen, thy beauty is to me Like those Nicéan 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! Within the bolded lines are examples of imagery. I imagine a spray of sea water on a beach in line three. In line seven I imagine a woman with long hair and normal, long face. Lines 9-10 I imagine the strength and power of both Rome and Greece. Line twelve allows me to imagine a woman standing very still with very erect posture.

5. Repetition: To Helen By: Edgar Allen Poe Helen, thy beauty is to me Like those Nicéan 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! The word thy is a very repeated word within this poem. Thy is helping exaggerate the traits that Helen possesses. Helen possesses beauty, hyacinth hair, a classic face, “Naiad airs”, and a “lamp in her hand”.

6. Allusion: To Helen By: Edgar Allen Poe Helen, thy beauty is to me Like those Nicéan 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! Nicéan, Naiad, and Psyche are examples of allusion within this poem. First, Nicéan means something of the very old French city of Nice. Naiad is a nymph of Greek/Roman mythology that was heavily involved with the weather and was a creature of beauty. Psyche was a Goddess of Greek mythology that was so beautiful, she was compared to Aphrodite and had hard tasks to face. These examples of allusion allow me to conclude that these examples are describing the mother’s beauty and her hard tasks that a mother must face.

7. Alliteration: To Helen By: Edgar Allen Poe Helen, thy beauty is to me Like those Nicéan 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! The way alliteration is used to emphasize the feelings of sadness, loss, and loneliness of the son who lost his mother who now has to stick for himself and cannot depend on his mother.

8. Author Bio: Poe, born on January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts, was born to traveling actors. When Poe’s mother died when he was two, his dad left him alone, leading to his adoption. In 1827, Poe enters the University of Virginia and his foster father, John Allan, wouldn’t help him repay $2,000 in gambling debt. During this same year Poe joins the US Army and publishes his first poetry book. In year 1829 Poe’s foster mother dies and Poe soon joins West Point, but quickly gets expelled. In 1834 John Allan dies and Poe receives no inheritance. Soon later Poe marries his cousin, Virginia Clemm, in 1895, leading to their move to New York City in the year 1837. In times between 1838 and 1845 were pure writing times for Poe where multiple poetry collections were written including his most renowned work, “The Raven.” In 1847 Virginia Poe dies of tuberculosis leading to the mysterious, drunken death of Poe on October 7, 1849.

9. Literal Meaning: The literal meaning of this poem is just the description of a beautiful woman. This woman had “hyacinth hair” a “classic face” and she stood still. This poem was literally talking about a woman and her characteristics.

10. Figurative Meaning: The figurative meaning of “To Helen” is the effect of this on her son and how perfect she was. This poem was made for a childhood friend of Poe’s who lost their mother. Poe could relate, rarely ever having a mother figure. The poem I believe was conveying a thought of how the son must stick to his own devices now that the mother is gone. The other parts of the poem just spoke of mother’s strength, beauty, and other characteristics.

11. Conclusion: • What I drew from this poem was the total mental loneliness and feeling of not knowing what to do when your mother, beautiful and strong, has died. The mother being a main guider within ones life would really have an affect on the child.

12. Sources: • http://www.reading-with-kids.com/nursery-rhymes.html • http://tobiasmastgrave.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/imagery-in-poetry-predator/ • http://carlsonibenglish.wikispaces.com/allusion • http://www.uwosh.edu/library/emc/bibliographies/emc-bibliographies/alliteration-in-childrens-books

13. THANK YOU! 