Edgar Allan Poe is not only one of the best American writers, having pleasure in concerning mysterious, sad and scary, almost horror topics in his literary works.
Moreover, he was also a critic and theoretician, who created his own sophisticated way of creating a really worthy and successful piece of written art. This was called “The Philosophy of Composition” and besides other ideas, it suggested that “the death of a beautiful woman is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world, and equally is it beyond doubt that the lips best suited for such topic are those of a bereaved lover.”1 Admittedly, it is the most tragic topic imaginable, and its relevance is confirmed by the involved lover; but its poetical value and beauty may be questionable.
Poe’s philosophy was very complex and demanding in the process of writing. It discussed the usefulness of various aspects of literary works and tried to set some guidelines on how to make poetry equal to readers’ needs. This was all reasonable. The only disputable principle is the view of Beauty of the work. Regarding the poem “The Raven,” Poe says that “Beauty is the sole legitimate province of the poem.”2 The meaning of Beauty, according to the philosophy of composition, refers not to the emotional effect as usual, but it represents the overall perfection of a given poem involving all creative processes standing behind it and also the final effect and impact it has on a reader.
But in my opinion, and many readers may surely agree with me, there is nothing nice nor beautiful about the death of someone and the subsequent sorrow of his or her lover, who remained alone in this world. As I stated above, such doom is rather sad and tragic. So there comes a question, why should this be considered as the most poetic topic? Generally, notion poetry suggests something lovely and what we perceive as beautiful in popular poems covers topics like happy, fulfilled love, admiration of woman prettiness or natural miracles. And if we overlook the fact that “The Raven” is purposely a scary poem, the topic of death may fit only an elegy. I think Poe’s idea of death as the most poetic topic might have originated in this, for elegies used to be a higher type of poetry in the past.
Death of a woman as the symbol of beauty is itself terrible. But it can be a good source for poetry, because it offers many ideas to write about, from what beauty means, what the woman symbolized, and what a loss it is. And there can be no better narrator than a person who loved the dead one to create a deeper impact on the readers. I think that every one of us has ever been in love with someone and then lost him or her. So the readers can more easily identify with the narrator’s feelings and see the story through his eyes. In “The Raven” the narrator is a student whose love Lenore died. She was the most beautiful woman for him, almost as goddess. He called her: “a sainted maiden….. a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels named Lenore”3 His sorrow is evident and the darksome atmosphere supports his mourning. He misses her very much in everything what he does, even when he sits on an armchair:
“This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion’s velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o’er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o’er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!”4
His life has no sense without her. So, when the Raven comes, he asks him whether he will meet her again in the Paradise. Unfortunately, he misinterpreted the behaviour of the bird, what Poe explained in the work “The Philosophy of Composition.” Because a raven is considered to be a symbol of death, cemeteries, witchcraft or even devil, the student already broken by Lenore’s death starts to be frightened and he thinks the Raven is a messenger from another world. Finally he becomes mad and that is just because his psychic had been violated by the loss of his love.
Lastly, I can say that Poe’s statement was quite true. The death of a beautiful woman is really a good poetical source because it can be analyzed on various levels. And the narrator in person of a bereaved lover is perfect to tell such a story, because readers will feel compassion with him and they will be interested in his doom, in what makes a poem attractive.
Sources:
POE, E. A. 1845. The Raven, online available in heise.de/ix/raven/Literature/Lore/TheRaven.html.
POE, E. A. 1846. The Philosophy of Composition, online available in eapoe.org/works/essays/philcomp.htm.
Footnotes
1. Poe, E. A. The Philosophy of Composition, online.
2. Poe, E. A. The Philosophy of Composition, online.
3. Poe, E. A. The Raven, online, stanza 16.
4. Poe, E. A. The Raven, online, stanza 13.