Edgar Allan Poe Poems

Description

Best known for his mysterious and macabre short stories, Poe was also a highly acclaimed and popular poet whose poems were appreciated for exuding the same gloomy atmosphere as his stories.

The themes and motifs Poe used in his Poems are the same themes he used for creating the special atmosphere of his prose. Death, agony and afterlife are among his most frequently tackled topics and the central element of some of his most well-known poems such as Lenore or The Raven, but it is important to note that the attitude towards death is different with each poem.

Love is another very common motif in Poe’s work, especially the love felt for the beautiful woman who is dying or has recently died, leaving her grief-stricken lover behind. Nature is another frequently encountered topic – Poe being one of the most prominent American poets of the Romantic movement, many of his poems are preoccupied with return to nature as a means to become purified of the sins of modern life.

Life as a struggle between despair and hope is another theme that occurs often in Poe’s poetry – while The Raven or The Conqueror Worm is full of desperate feelings and desolation, poems such as Eldorado, in which the aging knight is inspired by the pilgrim shadow to continue his struggle and accomplish his goals express hope for the future of the human being and the possibility of life after all hardships.

Poe published his first volume of poems in 1827 after having been enlisted in the army. The book entitled Tamerlane and Other Poems received almost no attention from Poe’s audience and the second edition, published two years later, was only slightly more popular. After quitting his career as a professional soldier in 1831, Poe went to live in New York, where he published his third volume of poetry entitled Poems, followed by many more during his lifetime that were praised by critics and the general audience as well.
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