"The City in the Sea" by Poe. You ppl must know your stuff, I just read it, does anyone have a clue about what the poem means or is about? If so, please respond so I can end my vain attempts to understand. Thanks...

-- Anonymous, November 17, 1999

Answers

It's about a latrine.

-- Anonymous, January 19, 2000

This poem is about a dream or some kind of vision that was quite common his time. It is about an city in the middle of the sea with pillars and the water around it is very quiet but Death, the recurring theme and character in Poe dominates and governs the city.

-- Anonymous, January 30, 2000

It is about the power of the sea. It is about the sea representing death in an innocent fashion. The sea is a part of nature but the city of death that lies within it is a thing of uncaring evil.

-- Anonymous, March 12, 2000

Well from one perspective, ya know how death is normally looked at as dirty, corrupted, dilapidated, horrible, etc.....well this poem describes death as a king who rules a beautiful oceanic palace, which is very unusual. It almost has a luring feeling to it. Who would be attracted to a nasty, rotting thing, when you could live in a palace? It's like the lure of people towards death. Another thing is, I mean you could go out on a limb here and say it was some sort of tribute to sailors who die at sea and find death and there forever resting place in this palace under the sea with death???? Its a possibility, personally I don't think Poe had some kind of secret meaning behind this poem--sometimes its best to just take things for their surface value and try not to complicate them anymore.

-- Anonymous, March 20, 2000

I think it is about a lost city in a sea.

-- Anonymous, January 05, 2002

I think that it Poes interpertation of what "Atlantis" is

-- Anonymous, February 06, 2002