The Haunted Palace Personification

Whether people like it or not, a multitude of aspects of life inevitably change overtime. Likewise, this was the case for the once glorious palace in the poem, The Haunted Palace, by Edgar Allan Poe. The speaker explicitly describes how the palace used to be a vivacious, gorgeous place, but overtime it became dreary and the life was sucked out of it. The speaker’s attitude that things that were once marvelous can turn bad was greatly supported through the use of personification, diction, and imagery.
Throughout the entire poem, the use of personification allowed the palace’s characteristics to mimic that of a human face. It’s “yellow, glorious, [and] golden” banners represented the gorgeous, blonde, flowing hair of a woman. The fair palace door was once glowing “with pearl and ruby”. These jewels compare to the colors of teeth and lips on a human face. All of these positive attributes are used to show the true beauty that the palace once had. Unfortunately, as the palace became derelict, the features of the “face” changed as well. The palace’s new “red-litten windows” symbolize evil eyes. Overall, all of these personifying characteristics clearly captured the speaker's attitude by showing the change

of the palace through a human face.
Additionally, there was a stark contrast in the diction of the speaker when comparing the first four stanzas to the last two.

In the first four stanzas, the glory days of the palace were present. Constantly, words like “greenest”, “sweet”, and “luminous” were used to describe the physical appearance of the palace. This grand work of architecture was described as a “fair and stately palace”. However, as a dramatic change took place, the “fair palace door” changed to “the pale door.” The positive adjectives once used to describe this palace were now switched out for words like “evil”, “sorrow”, and “desolate”. Evidently, this drastic change in diction further supports the speaker’s attitude that even something as great as a stately palace can turn into a dreary

place.
Lastly, the powerful use of imagery further supported the speaker’s attitude by appealing to the senses of the reader. The statement, the “radiant palace--reared] its head,” clearly allows the reader to picture the grandeur of this enormous home. Furthermore, the characterization of the smell of the palace as a “winged odor” makes the reader capable of imaging not only the visual beauty of the place but also the gorgeous odor that made it the magnificent place it was. As disaster came upon the palace, the speakers described it as “evil things” and “robes of sorrow assail[ing] the monarch’s high estate.” The speaker also states that people “smile no more.” Thus, by appealing to the reader’s senses the speaker was able to make the reader truly understand the severe change that the palace underwent.
In Poe’s poem, the once glorious estate turned into a haunted palace overtime, absent of life and lively people. The speaker developed his attitude through personification, diction, and imagery. Thus, the reader is able to easily discern the theme that even magnificent aspects of life can take a downturn, as was the case with the palace.