Blog #14: Paired Poems Group Presentation "Helen" and "To Helen"

"To Helen" and "Helen" Paired Poetry Essay In the poems, “To Helen” by Edgar Allen Poe, and “Helen” by Hilda Doolittle, both authors portray their views of Helen – thought to be the most beautiful woman of the ancient world, and cause of the Trojan War after she was abducted by the Trojan Prince Paris -- through use of elements such as speaker, imagery, and tone. Although both poems use these elements, major differences exist in the way they are used. Looking at the speaker of both poems, they both address Helen, but in different ways. For example, in “To Helen” the speaker is someone who adores Helen and directly addresses her when Poe writes, “Helen, thy beauty is to me like those Nicean barks of yore.” This same point of view is not used by Doolittle in “Helen” as it is written in third person point of view. An example of this is when Doolittle writes, “All Greece reviles the wan face when she smiles.” These point of view choices are different, yet purposeful. In “To Helen” the speaker is admiring Helen, so he’s speaking directly to her, whereas in “Helen” the speaker is basically trash talking Helen, which is something one wouldn’t say directly to her face. Also, in “Helen” the speaker is a singular man who is addressing Helen’s beauty, whereas in “Two Helen” the speaker is all of Greece, as they address the entire country’s hatred of her. For example, the line, “Greece sees, unmoved, God’s daughter,” is a perfect of example of “all of Greece” discussing their hatred for Helen. Looking at the imagery of “Helen” and “To Helen” they both use imagery to describe Helen’s beauty; although Poe discusses it in a positive aspect while Doolittle discusses it in a negative aspect. For example, in “To Helen”, Poe writes, “On desperate seas long wont to roam, Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face, Thy Naiad airs have brought me home to the glory that was Greece.” Looking at “Helen”, Doolittle writes, “The still eyes in the white face, the lustre as of olives where she stands and the white hands.” Both of these seem to be positive descriptions of Helen, because a hyacinth is a very important, beautiful flower in Greek Mythology, and the fact that Poe describes her hair as looking like a hyacinth is a compliment to her, and a very specific detail to the reader. The description given by Doolittle of a “white face” and “lustre as of olives” is also describing her beauty because lustre is a soft glow, which gives the audience a detailed image of Helen. Her beauty is portrayed negatively because the people of Greece believed her beauty to be the cause of the Trojan War. Although Doolittle’s poem portrays Helen in a hateful manner, her beauty is still recognized. Although the speaker and imagery used are important aspects of each poem, so are the tones and tone shifts used in each. For example, looking at “To Helen” Poe begins the poem in a content tone with the lines, “Gently o’er a perfumed sea, the weary, way-worn wanderer bore to his own native shore.” This is the speaker’s way of saying that he is happy with Helen and that her beauty is comforting, but also a source of guidance. However, in “Helen”, Doolittle utilizes a harsh tone in the lines, “All Greece hates the still eyes and the white face,” and—still talking about Helen—continues, “could love indeed the maid, only if she were laid, white ash amid funereal cypresses.” This tone is very hateful ad harsh when words such as “hate” and “ash” because this is “all of Greece’s” way of saying that although Helen is beautiful, they hate her nonetheless due to the fact she caused the Trojan War. Although the poems “To Helen” by Edgar Allen Poe and “Helen” by Hilda Doolittle both recognize Helen's beauty and views of her through the elements of speaker, imagery, and tone, they do so in different ways.