Edgar Allan Poe Essay

The style of Edgar Allan Poes works drop sure enough enhanced their literary value . Firstly, Poe was a believer in the rightfulness of liberty of style, in the aesthetic tradition in art, in layertelling. Hence, the expression in almost all his literary works, be they numberss, ill-judged stories or whatever carry a smell of freshness, of originality, of innate beauty. Again, as he was an iconoclast he could free the phrase of the short stories from the heresy of the didactic. He keeps an eye on details and hence a flexibility of phrase was the need of the hour which he mastered.He has dovetailed poetry in prose as and when required in order to enhance the readability and call down of the prose, in particular. For example, Conqueror Worm, as an individual poem has immense appeal as it can create a typical supernatural ambience. The lines have a dramatic ring, the language is foundive in weaving a credible picture of lifespan, though, an angel comes and sits amidst the audience to see/A con of hopes and fears where he found much of Madness and more of sin/And horror the soul of the plot But, in the middle of the poem, the tone alters and the brilliant effect is brought forth through befitting diction. But see, amid the mimic r come forth/A crawling shape intrude /A blood-red thing that writhes from out/The scenic solitude /It writhes -it writhes -with mortal pangs/The mimes become its food,/And the seraphs sob at varment fangs/In hu earthly concern gore imbued. The really lines from this poem, when incorporated into the famous short legend Ligeia, it enhances the appeal of the latter.This story is primarily based on the speculation of metempsychosis transmigration of souls, as Ligeia makes a return to her husband through the coup of the corpse of the second wife of her husband. Poe gets torn between the two disintegrated part of the storyone, the life and death of Ligeia and the other, the return of heroine Ligeia ,years after, to life. It was not a dance to harness the two threads to give rise to a accordance of narrative. For this end in view, Poe has screwballe theatrical role of a succession of highly suggestive images and words that mentally prepares the readers for the heroines strange return to life from the land of the dead.Weaving of the weird atmosphere adroitly with chosen, appropriate, vibrant diction reminds us of the romantic poet, S. T. Coleridge ,who with similar adept and facile pen use to make us willingly suspend our disbelief. For example, in the story Ligeia, the way in which the revelation occurs to Ligeias husband is really remarkable, The great part of the fearful night had worn away ,and she who had been dead once again stirred and now more vigorously than hitherto, although arousing from a dissolving more appalling in its utter hopelessness than any..The corpse, I repeat, stirred, and now more vigorously than before. The hues of life flushed up with unwonted energy into the countenan cethe limbs relaxedand, save that the eyelids were yet pressed heavily together, and that the bandages and draperies of the expectant still imparted their charnel character to the figure, I might have woolgather that Rowena had indeed shaken off, utterly, the fetters of Death. Through the turns of phrases, suggestive images, gothic expressions, meaningful caesura, hair-raising descriptions the writer dawns the ghastly truth upon Ligeias husband , at spacious last, Here then, at least, I shrieked aloud, can I never be mistakenthese are the full, and the black ,and the wild eyesof my anomic loveof the ladyof the Lady Ligeia. The Tell-Tale Heart is a significant story certifying Poes oeuvre. Use of maximum expletives is a characteristic feature of diction here.The very opening is dramatic from the point of diction, True -nervous-very, very terribly nervous I had been and am precisely why will you aver that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses not done for(p)not dul led them. . How then am I mad? hark And observe how healthilyhow calmly I can tell you the total story. The colloquial intimacy of the narrative, the protagonists fear of the old mans vulture-like, brainsick blue eye, the Evil Eye , as he names it.After continuously assiduous attempts, he succeeds in killing the old man with the Evil Eye. But, he becomes victim of prognosticate retribution and the ticking of the old mans heart begins to pounding in himself, abruptly, rather mysteriously and he admits the heinous deed. Poes diction is really apt in bringing forth the heart-rending finale of the story, Villains I shrieked, dissemble no more I admit the deed -tear up the planks -here, here -it is the beating of his hideous heart It has already been say that ,Poe believed that the storey should have unity of effect and that everything must be subservient to this unity. The collide with of the House of porter is a brilliant example of Poes craftsmanship as it is tightly struct ured, concentrated and possessing unity of effect, diction, design and atmosphere. At the very outset, an atmosphere of desolation and disintegration is woven deliberately by Poe . The use of his other poetic piece The Haunted Palace is also well-timed(a) and appropriate and in unison with the demand of the narration.Especially, in the concluding stanza of the poem ,we find the real appeal of the story packed meticulously, And travelers now deep down that valley,/Through the red-litten windows see/Vast forms that activate fantastically/To a heterogeneous melody/While, like a rapid ghastly river,/Through the pale door,/A hideous throng rush out forever,/And laughbut smile no more. In the following lines, Poe is keen on justifying the germaneness of the poetical lines, as included.The tempestuous elements of nature ,the solemn movement of the prose, rising to a crescendo at the end and all the strands of the story converging to the wiz effect produce the grim phantasm, fear, wh ich dominates the story. The strange appearance of the house, the weird actions of the mad inhabitant of the house, guidebook, the strange burial and return to life of Madeline ,the death of Usher and the destruction of the house are incidents that contribute to the effect of horror. But thither are other subtle factors too.One such factor is a series of weird identifications, for example, identification between the house and its inmates, between Usher and his sister and finally between the lunacy of Usher and the momentary madness of the narrator. Even, in the poems too Poe is at his innovative best ,so far as the use of diction is concerned. In the most popular poem,The Raven, the poet with his capturing diction runs to relate to the readers the grief of a bereaved l everyplace for his lost love. The leave off nevermore expresses the intensity of sorrow of the lover for his never-to-return belovedIn another poem To Helen, Poe mingles theme and form adeptly. Poes complete master y over the diction is seen in the poem The Bells, where the four different stanzas recapture with striking effect the sound of four different bellssilver bells,golden bells, brass bells and smoothing iron bells. It has been rightly praised as one of the finest examples of onomatopoeia. In conclusion, it can , of course, be said in the words of Kirszner and Mandell , Using vivid imagery and evocative comparisons, writers of fanciful literature often stretch language to its limits.By relying on the five-fold connotations of words and images, a work of imagination encourages readers to see the possibilities of language and to move beyond the factual details of an event. p-1Sources Books1. Kirszner, Laurie G. & Mandell, Stephen R. Literature Reading, Reacting, Writing, Heinle&Heinle,1999. 2. Davidson, Edward H. PoeA Critical development ,Harvard University Press, USA. 3. Krutch, Joseph Wood Edgar Allan PoeA Study in Genius, N. Y. Knopf, USA Web Sources 1. www. poestories. com 2. w ww. poemuseum. org