Edgar Allan Poe and Romanticism

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) is considered a representative of the (American) Romantic poets. “Romantic” refers to Romanticism – an intellectual and artistic movement during the late 18th and early 19th century. Romanticism revolted against the scientific ideals, especially of the Industrial Revolution, that attempted to rationalize everything and move away from nature and the “spiritual”. Hence, Romanticism attempts to return to “nature” and emphasizes "the individual, the subjective, the irrational, the imaginative, the personal, the spontaneous, the emotional, the visionary, and the transcendental” (Encyclopaedia Britannica).

“Among the characteristic attitudes of Romanticism were the following: a deepened appreciation of the beauties of nature; a general exaltation of emotion over reason and of the senses over intellect; a turning in upon the self and a heightened examination of human personality and its moods and mental potentialities; a preoccupation with the genius, the hero, and the exceptional figure in general, and a focus on his passions and inner struggles; a new view of the artist as a supremely individual creator, whose creative spirit is more important than strict adherence to formal rules and traditional procedures; an emphasis upon imagination as a gateway to transcendent experience and spiritual truth; an obsessive interest in folk culture, national and ethnic cultural origins, and the medieval era; and a predilection for the exotic, the remote, the mysterious, the weird, the occult, the monstrous, the diseased, and even the satanic.” (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Exercise Questions:

1. Describe Romantic literature.

2. Explain why Poe's “Sonnet – To Science” is a good example of a poem that reflects Romantic ideas?

Sonnet – To Science

Science! true daughter of Old Time thou art!
Who alterest all things with thy peering eyes.
Why preyest thou thus upon the poet's heart,
Vulture, whose wings are dull realities?
How should he love thee? or how deem thee wise?
Who wouldst not leave him in his wandering
To seek for treasure in the jewelled skies,
Albeit he soared with an undaunted wing?
Hast thou not dragged Diana from her car?
And driven the Hamadryad from the wood
To seek a shelter in some happier star?
Hast thou not torn the Naiad from her flood,
The Elfin from the green grass, and from me
The summer dream beneath the tamarind tree?

3. What Romantic themes are present in Poe's "The Raven"?

Types of Poetry

There are basically three types of poetry; i.e. Lyrical Poetry, Epic Poetry and Dramatic Poetry. There is also a special type known as a Ballad.

Lyrical Poetry

"Lyric", derives from the word "lyre" which is a type of stringed instrument. It therefore refers to music. Lyrical Poetry used to be sung. (That is why the words of songs are often referred to as the "lyrics" of the song.) A lyric tends to be relatively short and often convey the feelings and thoughts of a single speaker.

Most of the poems we will discuss in this course falls within the category of lyrical poetry.

Epic / Narrative Poetry

An epic is a type of story. Epic Poetry, also known as Narrative Poetry, are basically "storytelling poems". They tend to be very long, often several hundred lines, and are usually divided into several sections.

In this course we will not be dicussing any epics.

Dramatic Poetry

Dramatic Poetry is poetry that includes drama, i.e. it is theatrical. This means that it can be performed like a play. Sometimes there are many "characters" that are in dialogue. If only one "character" is speaking, it is called a monologue.

Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" is considered a dramatic poem. Can you explain why?

A Ballad

A ballad is a special type of lyric, that tells a story. A ballad is therefore a mixture of lyrical and epic poetry.

Would you say that Edgar Allan Poe's "Eldorado" is a lyric or ballad?

Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven"

Below are two readings/interpretations of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven", viewable on YouTube. The first is a dramatic recital by Vincent Price, directed by Johnny Thompson. The second set of videos is an interpretation of the poem, created by a student for a college project. Which recital do you prefer? Why?

Narrators and Narrative Layers

A narrator (sometimes called a speaker), is basically the “voice” that speaks in a text. The word “narrator” comes from “narrate”, which means to tell a narrative; i.e. to tell a story. The narrator of the poem is therefore the “persona” or “entity” that tells the “story”.

Take for example the poem “Eldorado” by Edgar Allen Poe. Who is telling the “story” of the knight in search of Eldorado? Is it the author (Edgar Allen Poe) that is telling this story? It might be, but it is not necessarily. Rather, Poe created another “voice”, i.e. the narrator, to speak on his behalf.

Also, the narrator in this poem is not the only speaker. There are two other speakers as well, namely the knight and the “pilgrim shadow”.

The following diagram shows a depiction of the three basic narrative layers, each with a pair of entities, namely the (1) author and (2) reader, the (3) narrator and (4) addressee, and (5) character 1 and (6) character 2.

(Diagram from the English Department of TTU)

Exercise:

Use the poem “Eldorado” and replace these entities in the diagram with their proxies. For example, replace character 1 with “the knight”.

...ooOoo...

When trying to understand a poem it helps to identify the speakers, as well as identify who they are speaking to. Ask yourself: Who is the author? When the author wrote this poem, did he have a specific audience/reader in mind? Who is the narrator? Who is the narrator’s audience; i.e. who are the narrator's addressees? Who are the speakers (i.e. characters)?

Sound & Sense (p. 11) gives 21 points and questions that you can use to understand and evaluate a poem.