爱伦坡诗歌致海伦

1、,edgar allan poes to helen,background,to helen is the first of two poems to carry that name written by edgar allan poe. the 15-line poem was written in honor of jane stanard, the mother of a childhood friend. it was first published in 1831 collection poems of edgar a. poe then reprinted in 1836 in t

2、he southern literary messenger. poe revised the poem in 1845, making several improvements, most notably changing the beauty of fair greece, and the grandeur of old rome to the glory that was greece and the grandeur that was rome. these improved lines are the most well-know lines in this poem.,helen,

3、 thy beauty is to me like those nicean barks of yore,that gently, oer a perfumed sea, the weary, way-worn wanderer bore to his own native shore. on desperate seas long wont to roam,thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face,thy naiad airs have brought me hometo the glory that was greece,and the grandeur th

4、at was rome.,海伦，你的美貌于我 似远古尼西亚人的帆船，轻轻飘过芬芳的海面， 让旅途劳顿的游子， 回到他故乡的岸边。 在漂泊已久、波涛汹涌的海上， 你风信子般的头发、古典的脸庞，和尼厄神般的风采已带我回家乡，回到罗马曾经的伟大，和希腊曾经的荣光。,to helen by edgar allan poe,lo! in yon brilliant window-nichehow statue-like i see thee stand,the agate lamp within thy hand!ah, psyche, from the regions whichare holy-la

5、nd! 瞧！彼处辉煌窗龛里你，恰似雕像，伫立，玛瑙灯儿手中提！ 啊，普赛克，来自仙土圣地！,theme,the theme of this short poem is the beauty of a woman with whom poe became acquainted when he was 14. apparently she treated him kindly and may have urged himor perhaps inspired himto write poetry. beauty, as poe uses the word in the poem, appears

6、to refer to the womans soul as well as her body. on the one hand, he represents her as helen of troythe quintessence of physical beautyat the beginning of the poem. on the other hand, he represents her as psychethe quintessence of soulful beautyat the end of the poem. in greek, psyche means soul.,im

7、agery and summary of the poem,poe opens the poem with a simile“helen, thy beauty is to me / like those nican barks of yore”that compares the beauty of helen (mrs. stanard) with small sailing boats (barks) that carried home travelers in ancient times. he extends this boat imagery into the second stan

8、za, when he says helen brought him home to the shores of the greatest civilizations of antiquity, classical greece and rome. it may well have been that mrs. stanards beauty and other admirable qualities, as well as her taking notice of poes writing ability, helped inspire him to write poetry that mi

9、micked in some ways the classical tradition of greece and rome. certainly the poems allusions to mythology and the classical age suggest that he had a grounding in, and a fondness for, ancient history and literature. in the final stanza of the poem, poe imagines that mrs. stanard (helen) is standing

10、 before him in a recess or alcove in front of a window. she is holding an agate lamp, as the beautiful psyche did when she discovered the identity of eros (cupid).,figure of speech,itsbelievedthatfewamericanpoetscan surpasspoesabilityintheuseofenglishasa mediumofpuremusicalandrhythmicbeauty. simile

11、metaphor :desperate seas alliteration: weary, way-worn wanderer , hyacinth and hair, glory greece and“ grandeur assonance:wonttoroam rhyme: me“ andsea, ababb, cdcdc, fggfg.,in to helen, the speaker sees pure idealized beauty, both physically and spiritually. he thinks that she is so beautiful that t

12、hat it is a relief to just be with her and you are calmed by her extraordinary beauty. she has beautiful hair and a classic face, and her inner beauty is also tremendous. the speaker sees helen as very poised and perfect and ideal. the words that characterize the beauty most clearly are “gently”, “p

13、erfumed”, “hyacinth hair”, “classic face”, “statue-like” and “brilliant”. the speaker says that helens beauty has brought me home/ to the glory that was greece/ and the grandeur that was rome because poe had opened the poem with the simile “helen, thy beauty is to me / like those nicean barks of yore” and this compares the beauty of helen, with small sailing boats (barks) that took travelers home in ancient times. he extends this boat imagery into the lines above, w