Helen Of Troy
Helen of Troy has always been looked upon as the prototype of classic beauty. Known as "the face that launched a thousand ships", Helen was known as the most beautiful woman in the world in Greek legend. These poems present a contrasting yet fascinating manner in which two people view this woman. The two poems depict a different side of Helen that is shown through the use of imagery, diction, and structure; Poe's being a more positive beauty of Helen, and Doolittle's being a hateful and blameful tone toward Helen. One is able to grasp a clear picture in each poem of how Helen is viewed through the evident imagery in each piece. Poe tells of Helen's, "hyacinth hair, classic face" when he mentions her and almost makes her seem angelic. To him, she is an important figure as he says, "how statue - like I see thee stand" and it is evident that he thinks mos
Doolittle, on the other hand, feels dissimilar as she says, "All Greece hates the still eyes in the white face" and represents Helen to be, "the beauty of cool feet and slenderest knees". Poe makes Helen seem almost too beautiful and so perfect that she may even be unobtainable. The title "To Helen" that Poe uses seems as though it is a dedication or even a tribute to Helen herself, whereas just the "Helen" that Doolittle uses is a straightforward and direct title. Alliteration is used expansively throughout Poe's piece with, "weary, way - worn wanderer", "hyacinth hair", and "glory that was Greece, and he grandeur that was Rome". Doolittle proposes that, "when she smiles, hating it deeper still" still showing her intense hatred for Helen. Poe states, "they beauty is to me like those Nicean barks of yore" suggesting that she made Greece appear grand and stunningly wonderful with her beauty and brilliance. Therefore, he may have been trying to represent this by making his poem one of a kind as well. In the second poem the word "white" is used four times and the use of the "w" itself is seen throughout the piece. Poe does not have a set structure to his poem, which perhaps suggests his feelings of Helen, as in his mind she is one of a kind. Helen is implied as an angelic figure and as a person to be hated by virtue of two poems. Beauty and evil are distinctly the two main oppositions in each of these poems, and throughout the use of imagery, diction, and structure, one can see how they differ even more. "Remembering past enchantments and past ills" is remarking that before she even came to Greece they were better than they were then. This poem states that she can only be loved if she were dead, and is truly hateful of her overall persona. In this poem, Helen's role in Greece is more important to the author than her beauty, as Greece is mentioned more than her looks, whereas her beauty if the main theme in the other piece. Their problems and obstacles were now worse because she is there.
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Acceptance Essays
