Group 5 is...last? Any synonym for brilliant?
Please post your criteria, your fabulous thesis, and your justification here!
posted by Ms. Clapp @ 2:05 PM
3 comments
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
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3 Comments:
On behalf of Dorotie, Maggie, Sandra, and myself, I shall write our lovely thesis.
The subject matter of the two poems by Edgar Allen Poe and H.D. are relatively similar. Each poem focuses on Helen of Troy's beauty as a subject. Poe's speaker sees Helen's beauty as a desirable feature while H.D.'s speaker sees her beauty with an eye of utter resentment. Poe's speaker uses classic imagery to describe Helen's beauty and give it god-like qualities while admiring it. On the other hand, Helen by H.D. depicts the speaker's resentful attitude toward Helen through corpse imagery. Whereas Poe's speaker sees Helen through admiration, H.D.'s speaker presents the hatred toward Helen's beauty provided by Greece.
In consideration for others, I chose to publish the justification separate from the thesis.
Our Group believes that the best qualities for the thesis statements are:
a. What is different between the two poems.
b. How are the differences presented in each poem.
c. Why the poems are presented in this way.
First of all, our thesis indicates that Poe's speaker admires Helen for her beauty while H.D.'s speaker clearly loathes Helen.
Second of all, Poe uses classic imagery to give Helen's beauty an immortal quality, while H.D. presents Helen's beauty as repulsive and suitable for burning.
Lastly, the poems are given to offer a sharp contrast to each other. Poe's poem provides insight to how a war could have been started over a single beautiful woman; H.D.'s poem presents insight to how all of Greece felt about the woman who started the war.
If anyone in my group disagrees with my justification, simply post your own.
Each poem focuses on Helen of Troy's beauty as a subject. Poe's speaker sees Helen's beauty as a thing to be admired while H.D.'s speaker sees her beauty with an eye of utter resentment. Poe's speaker uses classic imagery to describe Helen's beauty and give it god-like qualities while admiring it. On the other hand, Helen by H.D. depicts the speaker's resentful attitude toward Helen through corpse imagery. Whereas Poe's speaker sees Helen with admiration, H.D.'s speaker presents the hatred toward Helen's beauty provided by Greece.
In Poe’s “To Helen,” he uses classic imagery and elevated diction to portray his admiration towards her. The title “To Helen” brings forth a sense of adoration towards Helen which sets the positive tone throughout the poem. By describing Helen’s features with positive diction such as “hyacinth hair” and “classic face,” it creates a more elegant description. Also his use of elevated diction contributes to the idea of Helen being better than normal people, for she is “the glory that was Greece, and the grandeur that was Rome.” Poe further uses the idea of Helen being better than mortals in his statue-like imagery. By comparing her beauty as something worth putting on a pedestal, he conveys the idea of Helen’s beauty being a perfect monument that people look upon with respect, praise, and adoration, where people go to for inspiration or wisdom almost. By using god-like images to describe Helen, it brings forth a positive and admiring quality to Helen. By placing her parallel to Psyche and the Naiad’s, it emphasizes the adoration of the speaker and thus promotes the positive view towards her beauty.
In H.D’s poem “Helen” the speaker of the poem uses diction to convey the resentment and hatred Greece has towards Helen by conveying a deathly image of her corpse. Throughout the poem Helen is resented for being the source of “past enchantments and past ills.” H.D. uses a variety of corpse-like images to express Greece ’s desire to see her “still eyes in [her] white face” or “the wan face when she smiles.” The resentment towards Helen is portrayed through the “unmoved” emotions of Greece as they glance upon her “wan and white” beauty. As a contrast to Poe’s poem H.D’s speaker addresses the beauty of her corpse-like body. Similarly in Poe’s poem Helen is described as still and statue-like, however, in H.D’s poem this stillness holds a negative connotation. The speaker of H.D’s poem wishes her stillness to be of a cadaverous, pale body “laid…amid funereal cypresses.” The negative, and condemning tone used by the speaker helps create this feeling of resentment that “all of Greece ” holds against Helen.
The contrast between the two poems by Poe and H.D. shows the differences in perspectives that there are in literature and history towards Helen. She is seen as a beauteous monument to some, while to others she is seen as the direct cause for the destruction of the war. These two intrepretations of the poems are seen and supported through their contrasting diction and classic and corpse-like imagery.
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