POETRY ESSAY PROMPT #1

[1994] Poems: “To Helen” (Edgar Allan Poe) and “Helen” (H.D.)
Prompt: The following two poems are about Helen of Troy. Renowned in the ancient world for her beauty, Helen was the wife of Menelaus, a Greek King. She was carried off to Troy by the Trojan prince Paris, and her abduction was the immediate cause of the Trojan War. Read the two poems carefully. Considering such elements as speaker, diction, imagery, form, and tone, write a well-organized essay in which you contrast the speakers’ views of Helen.


Essay:
         The face that launched a thousand ships was also the face to launch the writing of two poems, "To Helen" by Edgar Allan Poe and "Helen" by H.D. With the use of diction and imagery, both authors express their contrasting views on the ancient Greek beauty.

         Both poets use an range of words in order to describe their view point on Helen of Troy. Poe uses words like "beauty", "perfumed", "gently" and "glory" because he sees Helen in a good light. H.D. on the other hand uses the words like "wan", "ills", "unmoved" and "white ash" because he portrays her in a negative light. Their use of contrasting words illuminates how they chose different point of views from which to speak about Helen.

        The Imagery in the both poems also supports this view of bad Helen and good Helen that the authors have. H.D. for example uses imagery in

"All Greece hates
the still eyes in the white face,
the lustre as of olives
where she stands,
and the white hands." 

The reader sees an image of beauty but one that is stoic and indifferent because of the "still eyes". With Poe we see a different image being painted. One of admiration and respect in the stanza that says,

 "Helen, thy beauty is to me
Like those Nicean barks of yore
That gently, o'er a perfumed sea,
The weary, way-worn wanderer bore
To his own native shore." 

Every word embodies the overall theme of love and beauty while H.D.'s poem highlights the themes of beauty being dangerous.

       With the use of diction and imagery, H.D. described Helen from a negative point of view while Poe described her as being lovely and beautiful. Both authors show case their contrasting point of views of Helen through these great works.