Harrison Marpole Mrs. Beaton English 30-1 September 17, 2014 Edgar Allan Poe Being one of the most well known horror writers of all time, Poe’s dark writing style has left its mark on readers internationally. Although mostly a practitioner of the short story, Poe delighted the world with his eerie poetry. Explanation of death and lost love were themes that Poe expressed during his short 40-year life. Such themes are present in Poe’s writing, due to, one, his love for his wife/cousin, and two, his late mother and run-a-way father. Death surrounds us. Poe experienced death’s path throughout his life. Much of his poetry was inspired from the feelings of knowing that we are all going to die. These feelings were evident in Poe’s piece, “Eldorado”, the protagonist seeks a city of vast gold and wealth. In the first stanza, the young knight seems optimistic about locating the city, and ending his quest. We see, as the man ages, he suspects he will never achieve his goal. Nearing the end of his life, the protagonist asks the “pilgrim shadow” for advice. He realizes his goal is completely unreachable, and accepts death, completing his life cycle. Poe paints the idea that death is truly the …show more content…
This isn’t necessarily the case with Poe, as lost love fuels a minority of his writing. Pieces of Poe’s writing depict a woman who has died in the prime of her youth. This is an obvious parallel to Virginia Clemm, Poe’s unhealthy and prematurely deceased wife, who was taken from him in middle of his writing career. Love for an innocent and young girl who has died, is depicted in such poems as: “Tamerlane”, “Annabel Lee”, and “ To Helen”. After the deaths of the woman in these poems, the reaction of many of Poe's protagonists is to stay emotionally dependent upon the late women to the point of constant compulsion. What at first seems like innocent love shows to be more of an eerie