Essay On Loss In Poe's Sula

Toni Morrison’s Sula and Edgar Allen Poe’s “To One in Paradise” both explore the implications and aftermath of loss. Both authors argue that although the absence of a loved one can be devastating, even death cannot break the bond of love; one’s thoughts will forever linger on the past, and in times of loneliness, the dead will return in the reflections and memories of the living. In the first stanza, Poe writes that the person about whom he writes meant a great deal to him. He describes delicate and beautiful things that he compares to his loved one, such as a “fountain”, a “green isle” and “fairy fruits”, to explain the depth of the love that they shared (Poe lines 3-5). Poe hints at the understanding that many good things come to a premature end, but this does not

Since all of his enchanted feelings died as his loved one died, he now feels some semblance of hopelessness. He writes that “the light of Life is o’er” now that his muse is gone (15). His words have become desperate and defeated as he recounts his current disposition. His thoughts are consumed entirely with the surreal and everlasting place where his loved one now lays. He explains that all of his days and nights are a daze because he is too consumed with thoughts of his lover, and that his mind hovers over the “ethereal dances” and “eternal streams” where his loved one now resides (25-26). Although it is never directly stated, Poe’s words give the readers the sense that he writes about one who is now in Heaven. Despite the absence of his loved one, their spirit and influence is not forgotten. Poe is unable to forget about them, and this loss only strengthens the feelings he had for them. Grief causes him to obsess over the significant impact that his lover had on his life, and still does even now. As he reflects on past memories, Poe is able to keep his loved one alive in spirit, despite the physical