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Edgar Allan Poe is one of the greatest American writers. Numerous poems and short stories are still being studied, and new facets and hidden meanings are being discovered. The life of the writer was not happy: early orphanhood, life failures, as well as the death of his beloved were significantly reflected in his works. And if considering in detail how he conveys his depression into his poetry, it is possible to illuminate his upbringing, drug use, and his reaction to a death.
Poes most famous poem, The Raven, reflects the writers perception of death. The theme of the poem the experience of grief caused by the death of a beloved woman was born in Poe from personal losses the death of his mother and first lover. The emotional tone of The Raven is sadness and melancholy. The main artistic effect chosen by the writer is a refrain, constantly transforming the poem. It can be seen in the phrases ending each six-line: Only this and nothing more (Poe, The Raven 6), Nameless here for evermore (Poe, The Raven 12) Darkness there and nothing more (Poe, The Raven 24).
The artistic image of The Raven is based on folklore ideas about this bird as a companion of death. The lyrical hero is a romantic who cannot forget his beloved Lenore. The artistic space of the poem the room of the lyric hero is drawn through dark, mysterious elements. It matches the artistic time: a stormy December midnight is the darkest time at the end of the year.
The lyrical hero, longing for his beloved, searches in ancient books for the answer to the question: is oblivion possible for a suffering soul? A Raven becomes a living answer, repeating the same word to all the lines of the lyrical hero Nevermore (Poe, The Raven 48). This word reinforces the sense of the inevitability and hopelessness of death. It leads the lyric hero to the idea that he will never be able to overcome his grief. Thus, The Raven deeply reflects the feelings of the poet himself, showing his view of life.
In addition to the Raven, there are many works with similar themes. The melodious poem To Helen was inspired by the memory of this lady, whom he called the one idolatrous and purely ideal love of his boyhood (Pruette 370). Uncharacteristically, the poem is filled with joy and acceptance of the world, although the lyric hero knows its severity. He is a sailor, knowing how long the journey can be due to the hostility of the wayward sea. However, his return was enlightened by a beautiful woman showing him a path in the dangerous swells of the ocean. Lo, in yon brilliant window-niche. How statue-like I see thee stand, The agate lamp within thy hand. (Poe, To Helen 11). The lyric hero admits that the beauty of Helen leads him across the sea to his native shore. It reflects how in Poes work, the images of love, death, and beauty are intertwined love is always sad and, therefore, beautiful.
Another example of how Poes literary work can shed light on his life experience is the short story The Cask of Amontillado, first published in 1846. The vengeful Montresor, on the one hand, says what can arouse suspicion in the most gullible person:
I forget your arms.
A huge human foot dor, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel.
And the motto?
Nemo me impune lacessit. (Poe, The Cask of Amontillado 6)
On the other hand, he lulls possible suspicions by making Fortunato drink two more bottles of wine and then bricking him up with a stone, eventually remaining unpunished.
This story has a biographical background, connected with Poes quarrel with his former friend Thomas Dunn English (Rust 33). He published the 1844 or The Power of the S. F, where the main character Marmaduke Hammerhead, the famous author of The Black Crow, utters such phrases as Nevermore and lost Lenore. Contemporaries took this as a direct quote from Poes poem The Raven, which transformed the drunkard, liar, and domestic tyrant from the story into a Poe double.
Poe replied with The Cask of Amontillado, and if it is now read as a terrifying tale of revenge, then for contemporaries, it was full of references to Englishs novella. For example, Fortunato makes a strange gesture: He laughed and threw the bottle upward with a gesticulation I did not understand. I looked at him in surprise. He repeated the movementa grotesque one (Poe, The Cask of Amontillado 7). Now the scene looks almost inserted, but Poes contemporaries saw it as an unambiguous allusion. Englishs story was about a secret society; a similar gesture served as a signal of danger.
Another story, The Tell-Tale Heart, contains symbols the eye and the heart. The main character both loves and hates the old man, or rather, he hates the strange vultures eye (Poe, The Tell-Tale Heart 2). The image of the vulture is associated with death and decomposition. It becomes a metaphor for the old mans supervision over the main character. This is a frequent motif in Edgar Poe. He often uses the eye in his works as a metaphor for fear, horror, and anxiety.
As for the heart, the author can use the heartbeat to manipulate the time in the text, then speeding it up, then slowing it down. Besides, the heart is a symbol of the inner world of a person. And killing the old man is a crime against himself. The main character confesses hearing the heartbeat of an old man, whom he hid under the floorboards, no blood-spot whatever (Poe. The Tell-Tale Heart 13). It is notable that the killer does not want an excuse to fully admitting his guilt.
The story A Tale of the Ragged Mountains reflects Poes own habits, including his love of mystification. The most interesting passages in the tale will be found in the allusions to the heros use of drugs (Ingram 207). Examining the story, the following lines can be found: the morphine had its customary effect that of enduing all the external world with an intensity of interest (Poe, A Tale 7). Thus, this episode probably conveys Poes personal experience and episodes of his perception of the world.
In conclusion, it cannot be denied that many works by Edgar Allan Poe still remain unsolved phenomena having many meanings and interacting with readers on different levels, offering numerous allusions and metaphors. Thus, by studying his works, one can get closer to understanding his personality, including his personal life and love experiences, his wish for mystification, the search for higher meaning, and attitude to death and destiny.
Works Cited
Ingram, John H., and Edgar Allan Poe. Edgar Allan Poe: His Life, Letters, and Opinions. WH Allen, 1886.
Poe, Edgar Allan, The Raven. Poetry Foundation, Web.
Poe, Edgar Allan. A Tale of the Ragged Mountains. Read Books, 2015.
Poe, Edgar Allan. The Cask of Amontiliado. Elegant Ebooks, 1849.
Poe, Edgar Allan, To Helen. Poetry Foundation, Web.
Poe, Edgar Allan, The Tell-Tale Heart. Poestories. Web.
Pruette, Lorine. A PsychoAnalytical Study of Edgar Allan Poe. The American Journal of Psychology, vol. 31, no. 4, 1920, pp. 370402.
Rust, Richard Dilworth. Punish with Impunity : Poe, Thomas Dunn English, and The Cask of Amontillado. The Edgar Allan Poe Review, 2001, pp. 33-52.
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