The two poems “To Helen” by Edgar Allan Poe and “Helen”
by H.D. demonstrate the opposite esteem for the subject Helen. The Helen of Poe’s poem is described with
high regard as a very beautiful and inviting woman, whereas, in stark contrast,
the Helen of H.D. (Hilda Doolittle) poem would be beautiful and inviting only
if she were dead.
Poe’s poem is written in three stanzas of five lines
that have definite rhyming patterns where two of the three lines rhyme and then
the other three rhymes. The first stanza
has the pattern a/b/a/b/b. Poe uses a
simile to compare his Helen’s beauty to that of Helen of Troy, who was
considered one of the world’s most beautiful women. Her abduction by Paris
caused the Trojan War. The reference to
the “Nicean barks” is the war ships sent to retrieve her and the “weary,
wayworn wanderer” is likely Odysseus who voyages took over ten years during his
return from the Trojan War. The classical references are used to capture the
timelessness of Helen’s great beauty.
Poe describes Helen’s hair as “hyacinth” or reddish-golden with the
allure of a graceful “Naiad” or nymph. She is so inviting that she welcomes him home
with “the glory that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome”. In the final stanza, Poe’s Helen is
immortalized, transcending time like a statue with an agate lamp symbolizing
the connection to the Psyche, or soul.
The poem is a tribute to a beautiful woman, held in high regard.
On the contrary, the Helen of H.D.’s poem is hated by
all of Greece. In this three stanza
poem, a couple of the lines in each stanza rhyme and the stanza length increases
by a line as the poem progresses. This disregard to form highlights the
disregard the author has for the Helen of the poem. Like Poe, Doolittle
describes Helen’s appearance, and even though she has qualities of beauty like
white skin and olive eyes, she is too hated to be considered beautiful. As the poem progresses, Helen is blamed for
past tragedies and the description of her appearance changes to the appearance
of a pale unmoving form, resembling death.
There is no regard or sympathy for the Helen who was so widely accepted
as a symbol of beauty and love. The Helen
of this poem has been blamed for all the Greek casualties of the Trojan War.
The portrayals of Helen in these two poems are
examples of two extreme interpretations of the physical appearance and
symbolism of a historic figure.
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