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黑龙江外国语学院2013-2014学年第2学期Term22013-2014AcademicYearHeilongjiangInternationalUniversityAnalyzeToHelenAbstract:It’swell-knowntotheworldforPoe’sToHelenwrittenin1846,apoemsogreatthathardlycananotheronebefoundtocompetewithit.ToHelenisnotapoemwrittenimmediately.Poehadwrittenitin1831.SotheauthorofthisessaygivesaconclusionthatHelenmusthaveexperiencedalongcourseofgrowinginPoe’sheart.Herchangeableappearancehaswitnessedthepoet’spsychologicalgrowth.Inthisessay,theauthorwilltrytoexposethetraitofthepoet’spsychologicalgrowthandanalyzehowHelenhasgraduallybecometheperfectappearanceinPoe’sheartbyanalyzingtwopoemsofthesamenameToHelenwrittenindifferentperiodsfromtheperspectiveofcognitivepoetics.Keywords：Helen、poem、beauty、rhythmIntroduction：ItisnecessarytoknowtherelationshipbetweenPoeandHeleninordertoanalyzethepoemWhenattheacademyinRichmond,Poeonedayaccompaniedaschoolmatetohishome,wherehesaw,forthefirsttime,Mrs.HelenStandard,themotherofhisyoungfriend.Thislady,onenteringtheroom,tookhishandsandspokesomegentleandgraciouswordsofwelcome,whichsopenetratedthesensitiveheartoftheorphanboyastodeprivehimofthepowerofspeech,andforatimealmostofconsciousnessitself.Hereturnedhomeinadream,withbutonethought,onehopeinlife—tohearagainthesweetandgraciouswordsthathadmadethedesolateworldsobeautifultohim,andfilledhislonelyheartwiththeoppressionofanewjoy.Thisladyafterwardsbecametheconfidantofallhisboyishsorrows,andwastheonethatsavedandguidedhimintheearlierdaysofPoe’sturbulentandpassionateyouth.WhenEdgarwasunhappyathome,which,sayshisaunt,Mrs.Clemm,wasveryoftenthecase,hewenttoMrs.Stannardforsympathy,forconsolation,andforadvice.Unfortunately,theladywasoverwhelmedbyaterriblecalamity,anddied.Thememoryofthislady,ofthisoneidolatrousandpurelyidealloveofhisboyhood,wascherishedtothelast.ThenameofHelenfrequentlyrecursinhisyouthfulverses.FromtheabovepresentationoftherelationshipbetweenPoeandHelen,itcanbeseenthatHelenistheworldtoPoe.Analyze：“ToHelen”byEdgarAllanPoeismorecomplicatedthatitseemsandcontainsmanysymbolsofPoe’slife.Thispoemisoftencommentedonforitsspokenbeauty.However,therearemanymoresymbolsthereadermaynotpickupthefirsttime.Aswellasnotnoticingallthatisinthepoem,onemaynotknowtherearemanysymbolsfromPoe’sownlifethathewritesaboutinthispoem.Althoughnoonecanbesure,thereisenoughtoevidencetoproveitisaboutPoeandhisloveforacertainwoman.ThepoembeginswiththespeakeraddressingHelen,areferencetoHelenofTroy.HelenofTroyis,ofcourse,thewoman,accordingtolegend,whosebeautywassogreatitcausedthewarlastingtenyearsthatledtothedestructionofTroy.Inthefirstandsecondlines,thespeakermakesasimiletocompareHelen'sbeautytothatofancientships.Theshipsspokenof,Niceanbarks,wereoneswell-knownfortheirbeautifulsails,curvedlines,andornamentation,andthatcarry,inthiscase,the“wanderer”backhome.Theimageof“perfumedwaters”makesthetripseempleasanttothereader.ItisalsoanotherimagetheauthorusestoenhancetheseemingbeautyofHelen.“Thespeaker,inaparalleldevelopment,wouldbeassociatedwiththewanderer,andsoheischaracterizedassomeonewhoisgiveneasypassagetoasecureatmosphere(hisnativeshore)justbyseeingHelen'sbeauty”.ThetirednesshefeelsbeforeheseesHelenreceivesanemphasisthroughalliterationofthesoundof“w”inweary,way-wornwanderer.Therepeatedsoundofthe“W”evenalsocansuggestaweakconditionforwhichthewandererisdescribed.Inlinesix,thespeakerreferstohimselfassomeonewhohaslongbeenusedtotravelingatsea.黑龙江外国语学院2013-2014学年第2学期Term22013-2014AcademicYearHeilongjiangInternationalUniversityThejourneysweredescribedtohavebeendesperate,”whichentailsawaninghope.Ifthesituationisreadmetaphorically,hislife,beingrepresentedinthemetaphorbythephrase“desperateseas”revealsthatthespeaker'slifehasbeenfullofdespair.ThisisoneofthespecificsectionsofthepoemthatultimatelyleadstotheconclusionofPoebeingthe“way-wornwanderer”,anditisPoe’slifethe“desperateseas”arerepresenting.TheconnectionbetweenthispoemandPoe’sownlifewillbediscussedfollowingtheexplication.BothlinessevenandeightdescribeHelen'sbeautyanditscontinuingpositiveeffectonthespeaker.“Thephrase‘hyacinthhair’suggestshairthatiscurledandsweetlyfragrantasarethepetalsofthehyacinthflower”.Thealliterationbetween“hyacinth”and“hair”isespeciallyunique.NotonlydoesPoecontinuetousebeautifuladjectives,butheenhancesthepoemevenmorewiththisalliteration.“Thesoft‘H’canbecomparedtoasighoflove”.Poe’sabilitytousetechniqueslikethisleavesthispoemtobeagreatone.Poeaddsmoretotheclassicalthemeofthepoeminlinesseven,nine,andten.InlineeightHelenissaidtohaveNaiadairs,thatis,nymphlikeorfairylikequalities.ThewordclassictodescribeHelen'sfacecallsupimagesofthestatue-likebeauty.ThemetaphorofHelenasastatueisusedagaininthepoemandshouldbetakenofimportance.Linesnineandtenbringthepoemagaintofigurativeness.“Theyindicatethatthespeakerhasbeenmetaphoricalinhisdescriptionofhimselfasasailor.The‘home’towhichherefersisnotaphysicallocation,butaframeofmindandasourceofinspiration;itisanappreciationofthegreatworksproducedbytheancientempiresofGreeceandRome”.WhenthetravelerbeholdsthebeautyofHelen,hislifeturnsfromdespairtonowhavingafirmfooting.Thealliterationof