Love and death are the main obsessions of human society. Love is an intense feeling of deep affection, while death is the permanent cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living physical organism. Love and death are the main fixations of Edgar Allan Poe's poems “To Helen”, “Lenore” and “The Raven”. In the poems “To Helen,” “Lenore,” and “The Raven,” Poe investigates the loss of ideal beauty and the difficulty in regaining it, but these works do not reach the same conclusion. “To Helen” is a three-stanza poem in which the speaker's beloved is the personification of the epitome of beauty, Helen of Troy. In “Lenore” Poe demonstrates that true love transcends death. In “The Raven,” the speaker continues to torture himself by repeatedly asking a menacing raven whether he will ever be reunited with his dead beloved. This essay analyzes how in the poems “To Helen,” “Lenore,” and “The Raven” Poe investigates the loss of ideal beauty and the difficulty in regaining it, but all three of these poems take a different approach in how they describe ideal beauty . themes of love and death. However, Poe is still able to convey a unified conception in all three poems through the use of literary devices. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayOne of the most crucial traits related to the theme of love in “To Helen” is the use of allusions in the language, the speaker uses allusions to highlight the immense love he has for his beloved. The first stanza of the poem begins with the speaker referring to his beloved as Helen, "Helena, your beauty is for me." By referring to his sweetheart as Helen, the speaker alludes to Helen of Troy who is considered the most beautiful woman who ever lived according to the goddess Venus in the myth called The Judgment of Paris. Helen of Troy was "the face that launched a thousand ships," like the "barks of Nicaea" of the poem. The speaker, referring to his beloved as Helen, reinforces her beauty and further emphasizes that his beloved is the epitome of the ideal woman. Another allusion that expresses the speaker's love is used in line seventeen. The speaker states: “The agate lamp in your hand, Ah! Psyche from the regions that”. The agate lamp is also another classical allusion. In the Metamorphoses, it was Psyche, the embodiment of spirit, who conveyed such an agate lamp. She shook the resting Eros when a drop of oil from her light fell on him as he dozed. The speaker states that, like Psyche, Helen has allowed him to appreciate beauty and awaken his capacity for affection. In addition to the use of allusions, the techniques of metaphorical language and alliteration are also implemented to highlight the immense love the speaker feels for Helen. A vital element that contributes to the development of the theme of love is the use of alliteration and metaphorical language. . An alliteration describing the speaker's love for Helen is stated in the fifth line. The speaker states, “The weary and worn wayfarer went to his native shore.” The "tired and worn wanderer" is an alliteration, it could allude to Ulysses, who, once the Trojan War was over, had the long and significant adventure he experienced at home with his wife Penelope. The speaker may similarly allude to himself as the "tired, worn-out wanderer" who has returned home, either because of his love for Helen, or because he is attracted to Helen's extraordinary beauty. In addition to alliteration, there are also numerous metaphors that describe the narrator's love for the speaker. In lines seven and eight the speaker states, “Your hyacinth hair, your classical face, your Naiad airs brought me home / To the glory that was Greece and the greatness thatit was Rome." Helen's "hyacinth hair" and her "classical face" reinforce the feeling of her Hellenic beauty. Naiads were a type of female spirit based on Greek mythology. They resided in the waters and are known to display incredibly lovely faces The way in which Helen's beauty brought the speaker home to Greece and Rome suggests not only that through her he has been helped to remember the enchantment and magnificence of traditional civilization, but that he perceives her as support. of all Western civilization which also refers to himself. Similarly to Poe's poem “To Helen”, his poem “Lenore” also uses literary devices to highlight the theme of love. One of the most crucial traits related to the theme of he love in “Lenore” is the use of repetition and hyperbole in the text, the speaker uses repetition and hyperbole to emphasize the immense love he feels for his dead sweetheart. The first stanza of the poem ends with l speaker who repeats that his beloved died at an early age. The speaker states: "A hymn to the dead queen that ever died so young - A dirge to her doubly dead that she died so young." The frequent repetition of the phrase “died so young” highlights that the speaker is melancholic that Lenore died at such a young age. This repetition also emphasizes that the narrator loved Lenore's youth. Furthermore, hyperbole is also used to highlight the speaker's love for Lenore. A hyperbole is used in stanza four when the speaker states, “From sorrow and groaning to a golden throne, beside the King of heaven.” Throughout the poem it is stated that Lenore was an extremely beautiful woman who died tragically at a young age. Guy de Vere, however, describes her beauty and her ascent to heaven hyperbolically. The fact that De Vere consistently describes Lenore in such a loving manner and continues to uphold her reputation despite her death shows that he truly loves her. Furthermore, the structure and allusions of the poem are also used to highlight the theme of death. The structure of the poem and allusions within the text are used to highlight the theme of death. Edgar Allan Poe uses internal rhyme to highlight the theme of death. The speaker states, "For her, the beautiful and untroubled, who now lies so humbly, life on her yellow hair but not in her eyes – Life still there, on her hair – death on her eyes." The poem uses a rhyme scheme that features couplets. The last three lines of each stanza of the poem form a tercet, to highlight the words 'young', 'eyes' and 'Sky'”. The emphasis on these specific words highlights Guy De Vere's melancholy and sorrow. The speaker also uses allusions to highlight the theme of death. In the second line the speaker states, “a holy soul floats on the River Stygian.” This is a reference to the River Styx, one of the rivers that flowed through the underworld of Greek mythology. Only those who had pure (holy) souls could cross the river to Elysium (heaven) once they died. In both the poems “To Helen” and “Lenore” the respective speakers use a variety of literary devices to highlight the love they feel for their sweethearts. But the poem “Lenore”, unlike “To Helen”, also uses literary devices to highlight the theme of death. In "Lenore", the dead beloved is seen through the eyes of her living male lover and consequently comes to embody the pinnacle of beauty and perfection in her death, but in "To Helen", Helen is alive and is l 'epitome of beauty through the eyes of her lovers. Similar to Poe's poems "To Helen" and "Lenore," "The Raven" also uses literary devices to highlight the central themes of love anddeath. Like many of Poe's other works such as "Lenore", "The Raven" also explores the theme of death through the use of repetition. The poem uses repetition to highlight the pain the speaker feels due to Lenore's passing. Throughout the poem, the speaker constantly repeats the name, Lenore. Peering into the depths of that darkness, I stood there long wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams that no mortal had ever dared to dream before; but the silence was uninterrupted, and the stillness gave no sign. token,And the only word that was spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore?" This I whispered, and an echo murmured the word in response: "Lenore!" —Only this and nothing more. When the speaker repeats the name Lenore in the darkness, she understands that the only center of her endurance was actually Lenore and she needed to open that door of her insecurity and flaws to make sense of it. The speaker also reveals the extent of his depression by whispering the name Lenore and how the loss of her has affected him so much. In addition to lines thirty through thirty-six, the repetition of "never again" is also used in the last line of each stanza to express how badly Lenore's death has affected the speaker. The speaker states, “He will embrace a holy maiden whose name of the angel Lenore – He will embrace a rare and radiant maiden who the name of the angel Lenore/Quoth the Raven Nevermore.” The Speaker is falling into even greater confusion as he realizes that he is stuck in this agony and that no relief is coming his way. In his frenzy, he asks if he will ever be able to hold and grasp his beloved Lenore until the end of time. The raven derogatorily replies no. The speaker was crushed by his emotions after dealing with them, as he realizes that he will never be reunited with Lenore, which causes him great pain. In addition to repetition, the use of symbolism and poetic structure is also used to highlight the pain the speaker feels now that his beloved Lenore has passed away. The poem uses poetic structure and symbolism to highlight the pain the speaker feels now that his beloved Lenore has passed away. died. Poe uses emphasizes specific sounds and a specific rhyme scheme to highlight the theme. The speaker states: “In this house haunted by Horror – tell me truthfully, I implore – is there – is there balm in Gilead? — tell me — tell me, I implore you!/ Said the raven “Nevermore.” Poe emphasizes the 'O' sound in the words, for example, 'Lenore' and 'nevermore' so as to emphasize the pain and melancholy of the speaker. Poe uses words that rhyme with "more" in each stanza to unify the poem and highlight the central theme of death. In addition to poetic structure, symbolization through the use of the raven is also used to express how badly Lenore's death has affected the speaker. The speaker states, “Is there – is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore Quoth the Raven Nevermore.” The Raven represents the personification of death itself and serves as a reminder of the narrator's loss and impending doom. The entire text explores the metaphorical death of hope and death caused by Lenore's death. The raven symbolizes the human tendency towards self-torture. The narrator continues to ask the Crow questions knowing that the bird will respond negatively so that he can continue to feel pain and desire Lenore. Although both the poems "Lenore" and "The Crow" contain a deceased woman named Lenore, the narrator of "Lenore", when confronted with the loss of his beloved's love, reassures himself with the prospect of seeing her again in paradise. The narrator, however, in "The Crow" gives up believing that he will never meet Lenore again. Please note: this is just an example. Get a customized document from our writers now.