1、Analyze To HelenAbstract: Its well-known to the world for Poes To Helen written in 1846, a poem so great that hardly can another one be found to compete with it. To Helen is not a poem written immediately. Poe had written it in 1831. So the author of this essay gives a conclusion that Helen must hav
2、e experienced a long course of growing in Poes heart. Her changeable appearance has witnessed the poets psychological growth. In this essay, the author will try to expose the trait of the poets psychological growth and analyze how Helen has gradually become the perfect appearance in Poes heart by an
3、alyzing two poems of the same name To Helen written in different periods from the perspective of cognitive poetics.Key words：Helen、poem、beauty、rhythmIntroduction：It is necessary to know the relationship between Poe and Helen in order to analyze the poem When at the academy in Richmond, Poe one day a
4、ccompanied a schoolmate to his home, where he saw, for the first time, Mrs .Helen Standard, the mother of his young friend. This lady, on entering the room, took his hands and spoke some gentle and gracious words of welcome, which so penetrated the sensitive heart of the orphan boy as to deprive him
5、 of the power of speech, and for a time almost of consciousness itself. He returned home in a dream,with but one thought, one hope in life to hear again the sweet and gracious words that had made the desolate world so beautiful to him,and filled his lonely heart with the oppression of a new joy. Thi
6、s lady afterwards became the confidant of all his boyish sorrows, and was the one that saved and guided him in the earlier days of Poes turbulent and passionate youth. When Edgar was unhappy at home, which, says his aunt, Mrs. Clemm, was very often the case, he went to Mrs. Stannard for sympathy, fo
7、r consolation, and for advice. Unfortunately, the lady was overwhelmed by a terrible calamity, and died. The memory of this lady, of this one idolatrous and purely ideal love of his boyhood, was cherished to the last. The name of Helen frequently recurs in his youthful verses. From the above present
8、ation of the relationship between Poe and Helen, it can be seen that Helen is the world to Poe.Analyze：“To Helen” by Edgar Allan Poe is more complicated that it seems and contains many symbols of Poes life. This poem is often commented on for its spoken beauty. However, there are many more symbols t
9、he reader may not pick up the first time. As well as not noticing all that is in the poem, one may not know there are many symbols from Poes own life that he writes about in this poem. Although no one can be sure, there is enough to evidence to prove it is about Poe and his love for a certain woman.
10、 The poem begins with the speaker addressing Helen, a reference to Helen of Troy. Helen of Troy is, of course, the woman, according to legend, whose beauty was so great it caused the war lasting ten years that led to the destruction of Troy.In the first and second lines, the speaker makes a simile t
11、o compare Helens beauty to that of ancient ships. The ships spoken of, Nicean barks, were ones well-known for their beautiful sails, curved lines, and ornamentation, and that carry, in this case, the “wanderer” back home. The image of “perfumed waters” makes the trip seem pleasant to the reader. It
12、is also another image the author uses to enhance the seeming beauty of Helen. “The speaker, in a parallel development, would be associated with the wanderer, and so he is characterized as someone who is given easy passage to a secure atmosphere (his native shore) just by seeing Helens beauty”. The t
13、iredness he feels before he sees Helen receives an emphasis through alliteration of the sound of “w” in weary, way-worn wanderer. The repeated sound of the “W” even also can suggest a weak condition for which the wanderer is described. In line six, the speaker refers to himself as someone who has lo
14、ng been used to traveling at sea. The journeys were described to have been desperate,” which entails a waning hope. If the situation is read metaphorically, his life, being represented in the metaphor by the phrase “desperate seas” reveals that the speakers life has been full of despair. This is one
15、 of the specific sections of the poem that ultimately leads to the conclusion of Poe being the “way-worn wanderer”, and it is Poes life the “desperate seas” are representing. The connection between this poem and Poes own life will be discussed following the explication. Both lines seven and eight de
16、scribe Helens beauty and its continuing positive effect on the speaker. “The phrase hyacinth hair suggests hair that is curled and sweetly fragrant as are the petals of the hyacinth flower”. The alliteration between “hyacinth” and “hair” is especially unique. Not only does Poe continue to use beauti
17、ful adjectives, but he enhances the poem even more with this alliteration. “The soft H can be compared to a sigh of love”. Poes ability to use techniques like this leaves this poem to be a great one. Poe adds more to the classical theme of the poem in lines seven, nine, and ten. In line eight Helen
18、is said to have Naiad airs, that is, nymphlike or fairylike qualities. The word classic to describe Helens face calls up images of the statue-like beauty. The metaphor of Helen as a statue is used again in the poem and should be taken of importance. Lines nine and ten bring the poem again to figurat
19、iveness. “They indicate that the speaker has been metaphorical in his description of himself as a sailor. The home to which he refers is not a physical location, but a frame of mind and a source of inspiration; it is an appreciation of the great works produced by the ancient empires of Greece and Ro
20、me”. When the traveler beholds the beauty of Helen, his life turns from despair to now having a firm footing. The alliteration of the hard “G” and “R” in the words glory, Greece, grandeur, and Rome can be understood to affirm this. In the last stanza of the poem, there are a few comparisons presenti
21、ng the woman in the poem as an inspiration. Continuing with the metaphor from before of the traveler returning home, the eleventh and twelfth lines contain a scene where Helen is pictured as a beautiful woman sitting by the window. The traveler sees her from afar as he returns home. The window is ma
22、de brilliant not only by her beauty but also by the lighted lamp she holds, a lamp that could guide the travelers ship into harbor. The statue-like qualities that Helen has are displayed here again. Because the base of the lamp is made of agate, a translucent, precious, and colorful stone, it associ
23、ates those qualities with the woman herself. There is an allusion to Psyche from classical Greek mythology in the fourteenth line. In the literal interpretation of the lamp in line 13, it is held by Helen so that the traveler can find his way back to her, but a symbolic reference comes from the stor
24、y of Psyches lamp, the lamp which allows the soul to see love, revealing the truth about love to the soul. In the myth of Cupid and Psyche, Psyche is kept in captivity by Cupid, the God of Love, without knowing his identity. He visits her every night and she is not allowed to see him. To Cupid, this
25、 arrangement proves Psyches faith in love. Even though she is treated wonderfully by him, she fears that he may be a monster. The one time that she shines a lamp on him to discover his identity while he is asleep he wakens and deserts her immediately. The suggestion is that love cannot remain in the
26、 soul if the soul questions it. When this speaker concludes with the exclamation Ah, Psyche he calls upon all the powers of beauty, truth and love, as they reside in the soul, to praise Helen. The fact that she and these powers originate from the Holy Land elevate them above any mortal love. Elevati
27、ng Helen above anything mortal thus does the same for the love between the traveler and her. Now that every line of the poem has been explained, how the poem correlates with Poes own life can be explained as well.The role of the female in To Helen is multifaceted. In one sense, Helen guards the home
28、 hearth in the traditional domestic role of caregiver while displaying a faithful attachment that recalls the idealized love of Annabel Lee in Poes eponymous 1849 poem. Simultaneously, Helen is the protagonists guide and inspiration who brings him back from the lonely seas, and her depiction as stat
29、ue-like with an agate lamp characterizes her as steadfast and dependable. Finally, there are mentions of Naiads, or ancient Greek water nymphs, and Psyche, the mythological woman who represents the soul and who marries Eros, the god of love. Conclusion：As is typical with many of Poes poems, the rhyt
30、hm and rhyme scheme of To Helen is irregular but musical in sound. The poem consists of three stanzas of five lines each, where the end rhyme of the first stanza is ABABB, that of the second is ABABA, and that of the third is ABBAB. Poe uses soothing, positive words and rhythms to create a fitting tone and atmosphere for the poem. His concluding image is that of light, with a brilliant window niche and the agate lamp suggesting the glowing of the Holy Land, for which Helen is the beacon.
