Personification Of Death

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Recommended: Gothic elements in poe fiction

By beginning with the personification of death, "The City in the Sea" quickly sets the tone for the remainder of the poem, which exemplifies the Gothic setting that Poe establishes in many of his works. The city does not have a realistic location and instead takes place in a romantic, distant land that conveys a feeling of mystery and hesitation. Poe's Gothicism deals with atmosphere and mood, and the loneliness of the city. Likewise, its relationship with death helps to convey the horror of the poem's setting. "The City in the Sea" is a revision of Poe's earlier poem, "The Doomed City," and the former title hints at the theme of death and decay that is also a characteristic of Poe's dark romances. Poe adds to the atmosphere of deathly peace …show more content…

The personified Death rules the city, and from a watch tower, he "looks gigantically down"(29) upon his domain that includes "gaping graves,"(30) emphasizing the huge scale of death in this city, with the use of this alliteration. To further cement the setting, the description of the city being located "far down within the dim West,"(3) indicating the descent and end of life and the direction of the setting sun, which has symbolized death in many different aspects and also is a key archetype. The line "the dim West"(3) also foreshadows the next stanza, which explains the belief that light comes from the sea and not the sky, which is unlike the usual view and makes it sinister and “hideously …show more content…

The beginning representation of the "greenest of... valleys"(1), which holds the "radiant palace"(4) guarded by "good angels"(2) and "Thought"(5) reveals that there is warmth and happiness in this environment. By personifying "Thought"(5), Poe gives the impression that this poem is a metaphor for the healthy, mind and that is eventually corrupted by evil. Additionally, by turning thought into an actually character, the writer also uses the technique of allegory. The "wanders of the happy"(17) released waves of joyous laughter and health whose duty was to sing, until the day "evil things, in ropes of sorrow"(33) overpowered the mind. The happy memories of the green valley are "old time entombed"(40) and powers of depression and negative thoughts now replace the once beautiful ones. This break down of happiness shows a major change in the poem and it's degradation, by emphasizing the loss of sanity and the increase of disordered thoughts, that now "move fantastically to a discordant melody"(43-44) and "smile no more"(48). The human mind essentially loses all reason and collapses under negative factors, such as mental illness. The idea of the supernatural further cements the notion of death, especially the death of goodness and everything

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