Analysis of Poe's "To Helen (Poem of Later Life)"
Edgar Allan Poe (1809 û 1849) was a poet, short-story writer, and critic (Perkins, 1991). During his prolific writing career, Poe would produce many volumes of verse, short stories, and criticism. He was also a man whose life was characterized by frequent financial difficulties, failed or tragic love affairs and/or marriages, and a seemingly unquenchable romantic bent (Perkins, 1991). A number of his love affairs served him well as the source of ideas for his poems, among which "To Helen (Poem of Later Life)" must be numbered. It is the purpose of this essay to examine the poem, attempting to determine whether Poe saw this particular poem as a serious artistic work or a piece of deliberate flattery created in hopes of convincing its recipient to marry him and thus provide him with much-needed financial security. It will be argued that while Poe may have had ulterior motives in addressing Sarah Helen Whitman (herself a respected poet), he was sufficiently concerned with his artistic legacy to use his skills effectively. The ultimate effect, however, is one of self-serving flattery and of an attempt to ingratiate oneself with the recipient of the poem.
It should be noted that Sarah Helen Whitman of Providence, Rhode Island, was known to Poe and that the two exchanged a series of impassioned and literary letters in 1848 (Perkins, 1991). "To Helen (Poem of Later Life)" is clearly a love song, a poem addressed to a woman by a man who has seen her "once only û years ago" (Poe, 2004, p. 1) and who now feels compelled to tell her of his admiration. Poe (2004) makes it clear that this meeting was some time in the past; he is clearly flattering the lady when he states that he should not identify exactly how many years ago the meeting was. The flattery does not stop there. In the very first stanza, Poe (2003, p. 1) compares the lady's soul to a "full-orbed moon," "soaring" thro...