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Poet: Edgar Allan Poe (Edgar Allan Poe Art)
Poem: To Helen 1
Year: Published/Written in 1831
Poem of the Day:
Jul 25 2005
Comment 34 of 34, added on March 24th, 2009 at 5:53 PM.
In To Helen, the speaker sees pure idealized beauty, both physically and spiritually. He thinks that she is so beautiful that that it is a relief to just be with her and you are calmed by her extraordinary beauty. She has beautiful hair and a classic face, and her inner beauty is also tremendous. The speaker sees Helen as very poised and perfect and ideal. The words that characterize the beauty most clearly are ‘gently’, ‘perfumed’, ‘hyacinth hair’, ‘classic face’, ‘statuelike’, and ‘brilliant’.
2. The speaker says that Helen’s beauty has ‘brought me home/ To the glory that was Greece/ And the grandeur that was Rome’ because Poe had opened the poem with the simile “Helen, thy beauty is to me / Like those Nicean barks of yore” and this compares the beauty of Helen, with small sailing boats (barks) that took travelers home in ancient times. He extends this boat imagery into the lines above, when he says Helen brought him home to the shores of these great civilizations, classical Greece and Rome. Helens beauty inspires the speaker and calms him to a great extent. Just her presence is a blessing to him and being with her gives the speaker relief.
3. The words or phrases that make the reader believe that Helen may not be an actual person are in stanza two, where the speaker says that she has ‘hyacinth hair’ and a ‘classic face’. This is where the poem begins to describe her immense beauty. Later on in the poem, in stanza three, the speaker compares Helen (Mrs. Stanard) to Psyche, who infact wasn’t a real woman, but from Greek mythology.
Savannah from United States
Comment 33 of 34, added on February 10th, 2009 at 5:15 AM.
the poem is so so difficult and hard to be understood please help us we need some analysis because we are lost the teacher 'll punish us. please reply us as soon as you can
souma and nouna from Taiwan
Comment 32 of 34, added on January 1st, 2009 at 10:15 AM.
Erin was a great help in understanding this poem. Some of you should take her example and just go by the poetry. And you should stop trying to find out who exactly the poem is about because if you stay focused on discovering the subject of the poem, you will miss what Poe is actually trying to communicate. Also, please try to stay factual in your comments and stay away from posting your personal opinions. Don't get me wrong, personal opinions are great, but they confuse people like me who are truly trying to understand the poetry. All in all, I'd like to thank all of you for trying to help people understand the poem better. Alot of your information helped me with my poetry response on "To Helen" by Poe. Thanks again!!
Ava from United States
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Comments
In To Helen, the speaker sees pure idealized beauty, both physically and spiritually. He thinks that she is so beautiful that that it is a relief to just be with her and you are calmed by her extraordinary beauty. She has beautiful hair and a classic face, and her inner beauty is also tremendous. The speaker sees Helen as very poised and perfect and ideal. The words that characterize the beauty most clearly are ‘gently’, ‘perfumed’, ‘hyacinth hair’, ‘classic face’, ‘statuelike’, and ‘brilliant’.
2. The speaker says that Helen’s beauty has ‘brought me home/ To the glory that was Greece/ And the grandeur that was Rome’ because Poe had opened the poem with the simile “Helen, thy beauty is to me / Like those Nicean barks of yore” and this compares the beauty of Helen, with small sailing boats (barks) that took travelers home in ancient times. He extends this boat imagery into the lines above, when he says Helen brought him home to the shores of these great civilizations, classical Greece and Rome. Helens beauty inspires the speaker and calms him to a great extent. Just her presence is a blessing to him and being with her gives the speaker relief.
3. The words or phrases that make the reader believe that Helen may not be an actual person are in stanza two, where the speaker says that she has ‘hyacinth hair’ and a ‘classic face’. This is where the poem begins to describe her immense beauty. Later on in the poem, in stanza three, the speaker compares Helen (Mrs. Stanard) to Psyche, who infact wasn’t a real woman, but from Greek mythology.
Savannah from United States