I am doing a research paper on love deep in the soul. For this paper I must use Poe's poems "Ulalume" and "The Raven". I'm not having the easiest time with it and I could really use some help. What I am trying to find out is how the poems relate and what the love in both of them are. Only reply if you have a serious answer please. Thankya much.

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2003

Answers

The dilemma you've presented is a difficult one indeed.

"Ulalume -- A Ballad"is commonly beleived to be a reference to Poe's deceased wife. I do not know if "The Raven" is or not. However, both share the common theme of the lost lover, to whom the narrator was very close.

"The Raven" seems to be as much an exploration of the process of losing one's mind as it is an exploration of lost love--the narrator does not try to avoid his sorrow, but rather feeds it until it builds into a frenzy that could destroy him. I also feel that he scapegoats the Raven, but that's an opinion and not an analasys.

"Ulalume" is about the narrator stumbling upon the tomb of his beloved. This poem is much calmer than the other. It is not about fear and insanity. I feel it is about the way that he lead himself to the tomb and used Astarte as a scapegoat (but again, that's a belief) as much as it is a lament to his lost love. However, "Ulalume" has something that "The Raven" doesn't--the missing tenth stanza. This stanza seems to not blame Astarte, but rather, the "woodlandish gouls"--but I don't really understand this stanza, so feel free to take what I'm saying with a grain of salt.

-- Anonymous, April 22, 2003