Death is Paradise
The poem "Eldorado" by Edgar Allan Poe illustrates an interesting idea about finding paradise. It conveys the idea through the theme that though paradise cannot be found in life, hope should still be retained as it can be found in the after-life. "Eldorado" tells the story of a young and enthusiastic knight's journey in search of El Dorado, the imaginary city of gold. As the knight grows old, however, he begins to lose optimism about his search and meets up with a wise "pilgrim shadow." The shadow tells him to not lose hope, and to continue on his journey to El Dorado. In this poem setting, plot, and symbolism come together to support the contrasting notion of finding paradise in death. Consideration of the setting during and before the time of "Eldorado's" publication (1849) reveals why the poem might have displayed paradise as unachievable in life. For example, "Eldorado" was written during the California Gold Rush where many people ruined their lives trying to become wealthy. This significant event in US history caused the poet to feel that not only is the search for paradise useless, but it can also destroy everything that one has worked for. In addition, Poe's own life history did not help to improve his per
This is indicated through the first through third lines of the stanza, "Over the Mountains / Of the Moon, / Down the Valley of the Shadow," which mainly tells the knight that paradise does not exist in life, but can be discovered in death. Instead, he prefers to believe that paradise will present itself in the after-life. At one point or another in our life, we feel depressed about the direction our life is headed. As ghosts are the spirits of someone dead, the "pilgrim shadow" depicts someone who holds much knowledge about both life and death. The symbolism involved in the poem strengthens the idea of everlasting hope in finding paradise, regardless of failure to do so in life. " But before he loses all hope, he meets a "pilgrim shadow" in the third stanza and asks him for help on his search. " The term can be found in Psalm 23 of the Bible in the form of "the valley of the shadow of death. In "Eldorado," the word "shadow" is used to symbolize four different things. In the second stanza, "shadow" is seen in "And o'er his heart a shadow / Fell" and represents depression in not finding El Dorado. The progression of the knight's emotions in the plot from hope to depression to renewed hope demonstrates that hope in discovering paradise should always be retained until it is achieved in the afterlife. Five years later, Poe managed to become admitted into West Point, but once again, he began to gamble and was very soon dismissed from the academy. During Poe's time, "the Mountains of the Moon" were in the process of being rediscovered due to imperialism.
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Acceptance Essays
