The Valley of Unrest.
American poet Edgar Allan Poe wrote the poem The Valley of Unrest in 1831. When the poem was first published it was originally called The Valley Nis. However, when it re-published in the 1845 issue of the American Review the name was changed to The Valley of Unrest. Poe was alive between 1809 and 1849, he lived a life of many hardships and died at 40 years old. Poe’s works are creative because they make the reader think about the hidden notions that are in the poems. Poe uses a lot of symbolism and metaphors to get his point across without being so direct. He uses the image of flowers to bring light to the more sinister and sad side of the poem. The Valley of Unrest communicates the ideas of war and loss. It is also a …show more content…
The way that Poe writes his poetry leaves the reader no choice but to visualise these landscapes in their minds: “Once it smiled a silent dell.” (Poe, 2008, p. 75) The idea that something happen in this valley that took away its happiness and the smiles of those who lived near it, is emphasis by the way the word ‘once’ is in italics. Poe’s words leave the reader with a chilling effect, and helps bring to mind the coldness that would be felt in the Valley. The atmosphere that goes along with the poem’s name leaves a sinking feeling with the audience. The poem is creative because it helps express the thoughts and feelings of Poe in a way that can be interpreted in many different ways. Poetry gives us the opportunity to take somebody else’s work and give it our own creative licence when we decide on our own understanding. Of course the author always has their own meaning to their poetry, but what makes it art it the fact that anything can come out of the poem depending on how deeply you look into it.. The poem is about the families who have had their fathers and sons taken away from them, and turned into the nameless, faceless, unknown victims of war. Poe takes the image of beautiful flowers and gives them horrific properties. This is expressed through the line ‘over the violets there that lie’ because violets are …show more content…
He did not believe in the idea of inspiration as much as he believed in the values of literature would be enough to make the reader understand. Poe’s poems come from philosophical ideals and literary formalism. However, the more broad ideas that his poems portray come from his own imagination and life experiences. Poe centred his pieces of work on these two main ideas: one, the literary points that when reading his poems the reader must feel a sense of unity as inspiration for his poetry. Two, this effect should not be done by accident or be reliant on the idea of inspiration. Poe believed that every tiny detail in his work should the work of his own mind and not left up to the theory of inspiration. The Valley of Unrest was in for no better word for it ‘inspired’ by the suffering loss that he felt and the sadness of war. In his life Poe lost his mother, stepmother and wife. By the time he wrote this poem he was pretty familiar with the feeling of losing a loved one. Although, Poe never sees battle himself, he understands what the sadness of war brings. The use of war sadness and loss combined with Poes literally functions it
American poet Edgar Allan Poe wrote the poem The Valley of Unrest in 1831. When the poem was first published it was originally called The Valley Nis. However, when it re-published in the 1845 issue of the American Review the name was changed to The Valley of Unrest. Poe was alive between 1809 and 1849, he lived a life of many hardships and died at 40 years old. Poe’s works are creative because they make the reader think about the hidden notions that are in the poems. Poe uses a lot of symbolism and metaphors to get his point across without being so direct. He uses the image of flowers to bring light to the more sinister and sad side of the poem. The Valley of Unrest communicates the ideas of war and loss. It is also a …show more content…
The way that Poe writes his poetry leaves the reader no choice but to visualise these landscapes in their minds: “Once it smiled a silent dell.” (Poe, 2008, p. 75) The idea that something happen in this valley that took away its happiness and the smiles of those who lived near it, is emphasis by the way the word ‘once’ is in italics. Poe’s words leave the reader with a chilling effect, and helps bring to mind the coldness that would be felt in the Valley. The atmosphere that goes along with the poem’s name leaves a sinking feeling with the audience. The poem is creative because it helps express the thoughts and feelings of Poe in a way that can be interpreted in many different ways. Poetry gives us the opportunity to take somebody else’s work and give it our own creative licence when we decide on our own understanding. Of course the author always has their own meaning to their poetry, but what makes it art it the fact that anything can come out of the poem depending on how deeply you look into it.. The poem is about the families who have had their fathers and sons taken away from them, and turned into the nameless, faceless, unknown victims of war. Poe takes the image of beautiful flowers and gives them horrific properties. This is expressed through the line ‘over the violets there that lie’ because violets are …show more content…
He did not believe in the idea of inspiration as much as he believed in the values of literature would be enough to make the reader understand. Poe’s poems come from philosophical ideals and literary formalism. However, the more broad ideas that his poems portray come from his own imagination and life experiences. Poe centred his pieces of work on these two main ideas: one, the literary points that when reading his poems the reader must feel a sense of unity as inspiration for his poetry. Two, this effect should not be done by accident or be reliant on the idea of inspiration. Poe believed that every tiny detail in his work should the work of his own mind and not left up to the theory of inspiration. The Valley of Unrest was in for no better word for it ‘inspired’ by the suffering loss that he felt and the sadness of war. In his life Poe lost his mother, stepmother and wife. By the time he wrote this poem he was pretty familiar with the feeling of losing a loved one. Although, Poe never sees battle himself, he understands what the sadness of war brings. The use of war sadness and loss combined with Poes literally functions it