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Edgar Allan Poe's poem "To F--s S. O--d" is a short poem, but it can easily be regarded as sexist from a feminist
point of view. The poem is about a beautiful woman in love, but there are some lines that may be offensive. The lines, "Thy
grace, thy more than beauty" makes it appear that those are the only qualities that she has going for her. He then goes
on about how she should love, and that it's a simple duty. It makes it appear that her one main goal in life should be to
fall in love, and he doesn't really know what other qualities he should praise her on except the visible ones. Although the
poem is a short one, he makes use of alliteration and assonance. In the second line he says, "present pathway part not!"
In the fourth line he uses assonance, "nothing which thou art not." The poem can be viewed as beautiful, but also
offensive.
Poe's poem Annabel Lee is a poem that can be viewed from the marxist point of view. It takes place in a "kingdom
by the sea" (2) which makes the readers think of a castle of some sort. When Annabel Lee dies, her "highborn kinsman"
comes to take her away from the narrator. This shows that Annabel Lee is royalty, and has no problems with taking her away
from the narrator even if they were in love. The later paragraphs makes the reader think that Poe is a simple man that may
not have a lot of money. He sleeps by her tomb every night, and even though they may have different social standings, not
even death can tear them apart.
"To My Mother" is a poem that I am viewing from the psychoanalysis literary theory. This theory is about the
poet's writing based on his subconscious thoughts and feelings. Poe stated that this poem was for Maria Clemm who was his
aunt, and wife's mother. In this poem he states that she is more his mother than his biological mother was because she was
the one who raised him, and because she was the mother of his wife. I don't think he really feels that way. He brings up heaven
in his very first lines, so it appears that he is thinking more of his real mother at first. He says that death installed
her, so it seems that she only took the place of his mother because his real mother had died. He also didn't move in with
Maria until he was in his 20's, so he had already been raised by two women (his biological mother, and Francis Allan) whom
he had both loved.
Out of all of Edgar Allan Poe's poems, "The Raven" is my favorite. It is probably my favorite for the reasons
everyone else likes it: Its haunting tone, dark setting, and catchy rhythm. From the first line, "Once upon a midnight
dreary" the reader is captured. The reader is taken to a lonely, dark room with a solitary figure trying to nap. Many
poetic elements intensify the poem. Alliteration can be found in numerous lines of the poem. "While I nodded nearly napping"
(3), "Doubting, dreaming dreams." (27), "grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt" (71). The rhythm is also one
of my favorite things about this poem. The rhymes seem flawless and make the poem flow together effortlessly. The repeating
of words only emphasizes the mood that Poe is trying to get across to the reader. The main one being the word that turns from
innocent to haunting: "Nevermore."
My least favorite poem of all of Poe's work is "To M.L.S." This poem was written for Marie Louise Shew who was
Virginia's nurse when she was sick. I dislike it because at the time Poe was trying to swoon three different women, and his
poems didn't seem deep. They seem shallow, and he just says what he thinks they want to hear. In this poem he talks a lot
of virtue and faith because she was deeply religious. He even brings up God's line, "Let there be light!" (10),
and talks of worship (14).
I found "A Dream Within a Dream" to be a little confusing to read, but I got the impression that it was about
Poe losing people that are important to him. No matter how much he tries to hold onto them, he keeps losing them. "O
God! can I not grasp/ them with a tighter clasp?" (19-20). This poem is really sad because it shows his despair. So many
people he has loved has died, and he wants it to be a dream in this life that's a dream.
"The Raven" was so popular that even "The Simpson's" did a version of it in one of their first Halloween
specials.
Brilliantly done video for the poem "Annabel Lee"
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