Reflection: Edgar Allan Poe- Poem of Choice

The poem that I have chosen to analyze is titled “The Spirits of the Dead,” by Edgar Allan Poe. I chose this poem because I had never heard of it before. I love the writings of Edgar Allan Poe and I was looking forward to reading a poem of his that I had never read before.

The literal meaning of the first stanza is saying: You will find yourself alone in the middle of dark thoughts of gray tombstones, and not one person in the entire crowd is going to interrupt your time of secrecy. I think the author’s meaning is really that there will be no one in the cemetery at night to disrupt your thinking.

The second stanzas literal meaning is: You should keep quiet in your aloneness because you are not truly lonely because you are surrounded by the spirits of the dead, who before stood alive, but now are dead and standing around you. Don’t move. I believe that the meaning of this stanza is to say that when you are in the cemetery at night, you may feel like you are alone, but you really are surrounded by many of spirits of the people that are buried under the ground you are walking upon.

The third stanza was a little bit more confusing than the first two; stanza three requires more analysis to truly understand the author’s meaning. The stanza is literally saying: The night is clear, but it frowns, and the stars are not looking down from their thrones in heaven with light and hope. Their red orbs are not beaming, and they seem like a burning fever that will last forever. This literal meaning translates into the author’s true meaning. I think Edgar Allan Poe was trying to set the scene of the sky and make it clear that the person in the cemetery is going to be feeling lonely because not even the stars in the sky are there to keep you company. The red glow of the stars is like a fever making you feel exhausted forever.

The forth stanza is talking about the person going to visit the dead spirit has thoughts that will not go away and visions that will not vanish because they pass for the spirit like nothing. As small as a dew-drop on the grass.

The fifth and final stanza is still setting the scene of the conversation of the visitor and the spirit of the dead. It was a windy night because God was breathing his breath and mist upon the hill of the cemetery. I am not quite sure what the author is referring to when he says, “Shadowy, shadowy, yet unbroken/ Is a symbol and a token/ How it hangs upon the trees, A mystery of mysteries!” (Poe 25-28).

This poem definitely is characterized by the dark romanticism era of literature. One of the things that stuck out to me the most was the mythology of the stars in the sky. They were referred to as people that were not there to keep the visitor company. The last stanza shows the characteristic of mystery, but I did not really catch the meaning of that part, so it is difficult to explain.

Krueger, Christine, ed. "Romanticism." Encyclopedia of British Writers, 19th Century, vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2002.Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Poe, Edgar Allan. "Spirits Of The Dead by Edgar Allan Poe." PoemHunter.Com - Thousands of Poems and Poets.. Poetry Search Engine. Web. 17 Jan. 2012.

Sova, Dawn B. "'Spirits of the Dead'." Critical Companion to Edgar Allan Poe: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.