“To Helen” Introduction

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“To Helen” Summary

“To Helen” Themes

• 

  The Power of Beauty

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “To Helen”

• Lines 1-2

  Helen, thy beauty is to me
     Like those Nicean barks of yore,

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 3-5

  That gently, o'er a perfumed sea,
     The weary, way-worn wanderer bore
     To his own native shore.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 6-8

  On desperate seas long wont to roam,
     Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face,
  Thy Naiad airs have brought me home

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-10

     To the glory that was Greece,      
     And the grandeur that was Rome.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 11-15

  Lo! in yon brilliant window-niche
     How statue-like I see thee stand,
  The agate lamp within thy hand!
     Ah, Psyche, from the regions which
     Are Holy-Land!

  

  

  

  

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“To Helen” Symbols

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  The Lamp

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“To Helen” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Allusion

  

  

  

  

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• Apostrophe

  

  

  

  

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• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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• Imagery

  

  

  

  

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• Simile

  

  

  

  

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• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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“To Helen” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Helen
• Thy
• Nicean barks
• Yore
• O'er
• Way-worn
• Bore
• Desperate
• Wont to
• Hyacinth
• Classic
• Naiad
• Airs
• Lo!
• Yon brilliant window-niche
• Thee
• Agate
• Psyche

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “To Helen”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“To Helen” Speaker

“To Helen” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “To Helen”

More “To Helen” Resources

• External Resources

  • The Poe Museum — Visit the website of the Poe Museum to learn more about Poe's life and work.

  • A Brief Biography — Learn about Poe's life at the Poetry Foundation, and find links to more of his poems.

  • Poe and Jane Stanard — Learn more about Poe's sweet, sad relationship with Jane Stanard, the woman "To Helen" honors—and read an early draft of the poem.

  • The Poem in Pop Culture — See Tom Hanks reciting this poem (to sleazy effect) in the Coen brothers' version of The Ladykillers.

  • Poe's Legacy — Learn more about Poe's poetic reputation (and about the afterlife of "To Helen" in particular).

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Edgar Allan Poe

  • A Dream Within a Dream

  • Alone

  • Annabel Lee

  • Sonnet to Science

  • The Conqueror Worm