Edgar Allan Poe
Born on January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts, Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most known poets in history. Poe’s life has become shrouded in mystery, just like his poems. Separated from his siblings, Poe grew up with the Allan family, after his mother died when he was at the age of three, and his father leaving sometime before his birth. In 1826, Poe was attending the University of Virginia, at least until he had realized he did not have sufficient funds to cover all of the costs. Turning to gambling for the answer, Poe ended up in debt, and when he returned home to the Allans, he had discovered that his neighbor and fiancee had Elmira Royster had become engaged to someone else. Poe ended up leaving the Allan family as a result of this misfortune. In 1827, Poe published Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827). It was around this time that Poe had also joined the army and won a spot at West Point. However, after a year of studies, Poe was kicked out due to his poor handling of his duties. After leaving the academy, Poe focused on his writing full time. In 1836, Poe married his cousin Maria Clemm when she was only 13. In 1835, Poe went to Richmond in order to work for the Southern Literary Messenger. Here, Poe was a critic, and also managed to publish two parts of his only novel, The Narrative of Author Gordon Pym. After the death of his wife in Virginia in 1847, Poe’s life began to go on a slow decline. He continued to work on his writing, despite suffering from poor health and finances. On September 27, 1849, Poe left Richmond for Philadelphia. However, on October 3, Poe was found in Baltimore in great distress. He was taken to Washington College Hospital where he died on October 7. At the time, it was said that Poe had died of “congestion of the brain,” however, Poe’s cause of death has been a mystery that has been frequently debated.
The Sleeper |
Analysis |
At midnight, in the month of June,
I stand beneath the mystic moon. An opiate vapor, dewy, dim, Exhales from out her golden rim, (5)And softly dripping, drop by drop, Upon the quiet mountain top, Steals drowsily and musically Into the universal valley. The rosemary nods upon the grave; The lily lolls upon the wave; (10)Wrapping the fog about its breast, The ruin moulders into rest; Looking like Lethe, see! the lake A conscious slumber seems to take, And would not, for the world, awake. (15)All Beauty sleeps!—and lo! where lies Irene, with her Destinies! Oh, lady bright! can it be right-- This window open to the night? (20)The wanton airs, from the tree-top, Laughingly through the lattice drop-- The bodiless airs, a wizard rout, Flit through thy chamber in and out, And wave the curtain canopy (25)So fitfully—so fearfully-- Above the closed and fringéd lid ’Neath which thy slumb’ring soul lies hid, That, o’er the floor and down the wall, Like ghosts the shadows rise and fall! (30)Oh, lady dear, hast thou no fear? Why and what art thou dreaming here? Sure thou art come o’er far-off seas, A wonder to these garden trees! Strange is thy pallor! strange thy dress! (35)Strange, above all, thy length of tress, And this all solemn silentness! The lady sleeps! Oh, may her sleep, Which is enduring, so be deep! (40)Heaven have her in its sacred keep! This chamber changed for one more holy, This bed for one more melancholy, I pray to God that she may lie Forever with unopened eye, (45)While the pale sheeted ghosts go by! My love, she sleeps! Oh, may her sleep, As it is lasting, so be deep! Soft may the worms about her creep! Far in the forest, dim and old, (50)For her may some tall vault unfold-- Some vault that oft hath flung its black And wingéd pannels fluttering back, Triumphant, o’er the crested palls Of her grand family funerals-- (55)Some sepulchre, remote, alone, Against whose portals she hath thrown, In childhood, many an idle stone-- Some tomb from out whose sounding door She ne’er shall force an echo more, (60)Thrilling to think, poor child of sin! It was the dead who groaned within. |
Within the opening stanza, the scene is described. The opening scene is a graveyard at night, where a gentle breeze blows upon the grave where Irene (Greek for "peace") has made her final resting place. (lines 2-16) A fog begins to take form in this graveyard, and has all the appearances of the river Lethe, one of the five rivers of the underworld where the dead gather to drink the water of the river and forget about their earthly lives. (lines 10-12) This fits with the scene because the graveyard is the final earthly resting place of the dead. The comparison of the river Lethe to a fog represents the departure of the souls of the dead, and the mentioning of Irene displays the fact that the souls of the dead are now at peace.
In the next stanza, a window remains open in a room where a woman sleeps in the night. (lines 18-19) While this window is open, an air of evil begins to waft into the room, and begins to spread with evil intentions. (lines 20-23) " 'Neath which thy slumb'ring soul lies hid, that o'er the floor and down the wall, like the ghosts the shadows rise and fall" represents the asylum that she finds in her peacefulness while the evil air spreads and begins to rise and fall, as if they're the shadows of ghosts. (lines 27-29) Here, the woman being asleep represents her courage to be surrounded by her fear, and yet take no action and remain perfectly calm. The narrator, however, doesn't know this, and as such asks how the woman remains so perfectly calm, as if she has no fear at all. The following stanza addresses the narrator's hopes for the sleeping woman. Here, the narrator states that he/she hopes that the woman is being protected by heaven. (line 40) Furthermore, the narrator states that the room had changed, and that the eerie air of evil had been replaced with a more holy one. (line 41) The narrator also hopes that the woman will always remain this brave and courageous. (lines 43-45) In the next stanza, the narrator continues to describe her sleeping conditions, while also hoping that this deep sleep will continue. (lines 46-47) Here, we also learn that the woman was the love of the narrator's life, and that she's also dead. (lines 48-50) The final stanza describes a sepulchre (a mini-mausoleum for one) in which those associated with the woman lie. (lines 55-57) The following lines describe the sheer magnitude of the other people's deaths, as can be drawn from "some tomb from out whose sounding door she ne’er shall force an echo more,". (lines 58-59) |