At Least Two Essays

POETRY ESSAY PROMPT #2

Promp: 1983 Poem: “Clocks and Lovers” (W. H. Auden)

Prompt: Write a well-organized essay in which you contrast the attitude of the clocks with that of the lover. Through careful analysis of the language and imagery, show how this contrast is important to the meaning of the poem.

Poem I am used: Eldorado

"In sunshine and in shadow," the power that this one line has throughout this poem is very strong. It is the beginning of a search for a place called Eldorado. Poe uses imagery and language against one another to create a better sense of emotion in the reader. Eldorado is just the dream of something better than reality that cannot be attained even after a lifetime of searching. 

The first stanza starts out with an image of an energetic young knight who can't wait to start on their adventure for a place called Eldorado. As the story progresses Poe uses phrases like "and o'er his heart like a shadow," and "as his strength failed him at length" to convey a sense of hopelessness in the knights search of a better place. This shift of the poem is very important to create an emotion bond with the reader and the journey that the knight is on.

Poe uses repetition to make his point clear about the changing of the knight. The word shadow is used in all four of the stanzas, but they all have different meanings in each one. In the first stanza the meaning is that the knight is going to search knight and day for this place, while in the second one he has given up hope as a shadow covers his heart. In the third stanza shadow is used to represent a person or spiritual being giving the knight information. Finally in the last stanza "Valley of Shadows" means after death. With all these different meanings of one word Poe is able to create a vibrant emotional connection between the reader and the knight.

Poe used imagery and language throughout this poem to tell a tale of a knight through his search of a place better than reality. Eldorado is the essence of a dream place where this knight is trying to reach which after a lifetime of searching for finds the answer after death.



POETRY ESSAY PROMPT #1

[1994] Poems: “To Helen” (Edgar Allan Poe) and “Helen” (H.D.)

Prompt: The following two poems are about Helen of Troy. Renowned in the ancient world for her beauty, Helen was the wife of Menelaus, a Greek King. She was carried off to Troy by the Trojan prince Paris, and her abduction was the immediate cause of the Trojan War. Read the two poems carefully. Considering such elements as speaker, diction, imagery, form, and tone, write a well-organized essay in which you contrast the speakers’ views of Helen.

With all great works of art there are multiply ways to interpret them. As we see in the two poems "To Helen" and "Helen" there are two very different viewpoints. These viewpoints are both very well said and can be right either way. Edgar Allan Poe and Hilda Doolittle both share their opinions on Helen by their use of diction, tone, and imagery.

Poe talked about Helen as a part of something beautiful and elegant. He imagined it like a wondrous place and referred to it as the “Holy Land”. On the other side Doolittle talked about how after what had happened Greece was now a thinking of evil that had happened to them.

The way Poe embraces his words as a lovely array of symbols and warmth is very different compared to the harsh and cold way Doolittle sees it. With the first line in both poems you can tell which way their viewpoints are. “Helen, thy beauty is to me” Poe just embraces every part that is good in Helen. “All Greece hates the still eyes in the white face” Doolittle immediately shows how much she hates what has happened. Both of these poems tones are drastically different.

The images that are produced through the powerful words of Poe and Doolittle can be seen throughout their text. Poe’s words describe and immediate sense of serenity with the world that is Helen. Meanwhile Doolittle’s words create a sense of coldness and depression. Both of these images are very strong within the work.

Both Poe and Doolittle have very strong opinions about Helen and are shown through the powerful images and diction which create a powerful tone. These two authors both shared great opinions on Helen through their work.