Essay on Edgar Allan Poe Youth, Beauty, and Death

The relationship with Edgar Allan Poe and the woman in his life – his mother, adoptive mother, and wife, Virginia Clemm – were disastrous (DiLorenzo). Yet, they provided the inspiration for some of the best gothic pieces to date. Poe often combines the romantic, long lasting love in fairy tales and the hard truth of real life. Such elements are portrayed within â€Å"Annabel Lee† and â€Å"Ulalume†. His poems refrain from creating a false paradise, and instead represent an allegory of his tribulations – the death of young, beautiful women. For example, â€Å"Annabel Lee† is about the speaker of the poem remembering his long-lost love, Annabel Lee. Throughout the poem he references â€Å"in a kingdom by the sea† (Poe â€Å"Annabel Lee†) which portrays Poe’s†¦show more content†¦Finally, as night sets he begins to believe that the moon must be Astarte, and is directing him towards paradise. Unfortunately, the moon only directs him to the tomb of his deceased love, Ulalume, and it is revealed that that night is the one year anniversary of his lover’s death. Poe wrote â€Å"Ulalume† in the same year of his wife’s death, and again reveals the death of a young, beautiful woman. Again, the speaker is left mourning the death of his lover, â€Å"Then my heart it grew ashen and sober† (Poe â€Å"Ulalume†). The fact that the speaker never strays from the trail that he walks on can represent him being stuck in his mind, and his every thought is occupied by his lost love â€Å"But our thoughts they were palsied and sere-â€Å"(Poe â€Å"Ulalume†). After the death of Virginia Clemm, Poe seeped into a deep depression, and it could be thought that he knew this would occur and wrote about within his works. Edgar Allan Poe’s poems are often allegories for events in his life. A constant theme in most of his poems is constant memories and grief. In â€Å"Annabel Lee† everything reminds the speaker of his lost love â€Å"For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams/of the beautiful Annabel Lee† (Poe, â€Å"Annabel Lee†) – this causes the speaker to sleep by her tomb every night â€Å"And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side/ Of my darling-my darling-my life and my bride† (Poe, â€Å"Annabel Lee†). In â€Å"Ulalume† the speakerShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Edgar Allan Poe s The Cask Of Amontillado Essay1267 Words   |  6 PagesOctober 19, 2016 Poe’s Love and Death; One in the Same The significance of Edgar Allan Poe s style of writing, which commands the use of both death and love most frequently throughout his works, are what really made his literary works become so well known. The nature of death and on questions about the afterlife is usually Poe’s main focus in most of his literary works. A woman who has died at the height of her youth and beauty, leaving a lover behind to mourn. 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