LIT2000 Poetry Project Assignment

Edgar Allan Poe

(1809- 1849)

Born in Boston on Jan. 19, Poe, along with his siblings William Henry and Rosalie, was the son of theatre performers David Poe Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold. Mrs. John Allan adopted Poe and his sister after their mother’s death in 1811, while Henry went to live with his grandparents.

Poe lived quite well in Richmond with his new family; he was loved, and worried not of any financial difficulties. The family moved to England in 1815, but returned to Richmond in 1820 for monetary reasons. In 1827 Poe fled to Boston after a fatherly falling out (a relationship disapproved off, excess drinking, financial unwillingness, and father-son disinterest all led to this disintegration).

Poe enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1827 and West Point in 1830; he published two poem collections during this time. He also brought the newspaper, Messenger, to prominence in 1836, after being hired there a year earlier. After quitting though, he published Ligeia in 1839, after moving to New York.

After publishing various short stories and poems, and working for a number of editorial positions, Poe was discovered on Oct. 5th of 1849 in poor condition. He was taken to the Washington College Hospital, and pronounced dead on the 7th. Though great mystery revolves around his death, excess drinking most likely did the man in.

E. A. Poe’s Ligeia: Transmogrification in Bloom

The story of Ligeia centers around the death of the eponymously named narrator’s wife, who then returns to life violently throughout the night, using as a vessel the living body of the narrator’s second wife, Rowena. The uninspired woman cannot compare to the supernatural beauty, unrivaled knowledge, and otherworldly mystique of Ligeia, and so I assert that it is the narrator’s emotional state that revives the Lady. I will pursue the themes of religious sentiments engaging mythological characteristics which culminate in revival, and the character of Ligeia being a metaphor for humankind’s wonderment of the unknown.

Several mythological and religious references are made when characterizing Ligeia: It is mentioned that the Egyptian Goddess Astophet enraptures the narrator into a hazy lull for her, and that this is why he never inquired seriously into her surname or family heritage, beyond vagaries (222). A comparison between Ligeia and the daughters of Delos is made also (a monumental culture center historically and myth logically in Greek antiquity). The description of her flowing hair and beautiful complexion compares her to the Greek divine hero Hyacinth, and the shape of her nose specifically calls to mind the features of the Hebrews, the first race to recognize the monotheistic God. Her chin seemed crafted from Apollo himself, while her eyes were larger than that of a gazelle in the fear of the hunt; overall as well, she mimicked a maiden in Paradise, one of the Turkish Houri (223).

The narrator uses these allusions to characters, Gods, and myths from antiquity to place Ligeia above mortal women, to display her as almost a dark underling of one cast out of divinity—too was Lucifer very beautiful. At the brink of Ligeia’s death, the narrator witnesses her complexion as that of the grave, and will lament her taking by the Angel of Death, Azrael (225). Much of the references Poe makes are of western religion, particularly during and after her death, as opposed to the ancient mythological aspects during the explanation of her looks and setting. This coincides with Ligeia’s praying and begging to God, who still rules her, but her dying recite and analogy of the Conquer Worm poem seem to hint that she may continue living with a strong enough will (229). Then when the narrator is enjoying yet another opium haze, his second wife being Rowena continues to worsen until she is hanging on by a thread. Here, a shadow appears to hang around and intermittently lets itself be known, until the shade possibly infiltrates Rowena’s parting wine with four ruby-colored drops of a mysterious liquid (231). Rowena of course shutters and abates throughout the night, until finally succumbing to her disease- but wait! Who is it that, after standing from within the grave, shows herself? It is of course… Ligeia.

My assertion of Ligeia being a metaphor for wonderment of the unknown has actually already been discussed. Many of the allusions made are to divine figures—though mythologically—including religious representations. The god Apollo, the hero Hyacinth, all positions that (of Poe’s writing) modern intelligent men studies and learned from. There is an innate wonder then of their feats and abilities, innate that is in the study of them. The reference also to Azrael, what is such a thing most wondered about than death itself? Immortality too—Ligeia, with such a powerful will, was reborn! Surely man must wonder how he too can escape death. Admittedly, that is the bulk of the evidence this assertion can provide, but I see it a fair enough amount. Certainly, the wonder that Poe allows with his rich details and questions asked, of Ligeia will keep us reading for all of time.

Works Cited:

Poe, Edgar Allan, and Arthur Hobson Quinn. Complete Tales and Poems. N.p. Dorset P., U.S.,

1992. Print.