It cannot be denied that Edgar Allan Poe made important contributions to the literary community. Poe effectively made his place in the literary community by always altering it using dark themes, Romanticist aspects, and strong imagery. Poe’s lyrical poem, “The Sleeper,” which was first published in 1831, gives readers a chance to retain a conclusive idea of his mysterious intentions. Poe establishes his ideas in his work using imagery. Poe creates an uncanny and weird environment in his poem that is inhabited by his characters. Poem portrays a lady in a long dress in his poem. Poe’s dark and deep romanticist intentions become evident through his various descriptions of the lady’s sleep and the atmosphere. Poe’s personal life was as extravagantly passionate as his reputation for having an odd connection to Dark Romanticism. “The Sleeper” is a fitting example of the contributions that Poe made to the literary community.
Poe has written the poem in couplets, containing two consecutive rhyming lines and triples, containing three consecutive rhyming lines. For instance, there are three couplets in the first six lines of the poem: “June” and “moon,” “dim” and “rim,” “drop” and “top.” On the other hand, there is triplet followed by a couplet in the first five lines of the fourth stanza: “sleep,” “deep,” and “creep,” and “old” and “unfold.” Poe seems to have written most of the poem in iambic tetrameter. By writing his poem in this format, he has uses eight syllables in each line; four stressed and four unstressed. This metric pattern is particularly noticeable in the first four lines of the poem, such as the “mid” in midnight, “month,” “June” “stand,” the “neath” in beneath, the “mys” in mystic, and “moon.” His use of the iambic tetrameter reflects a Romanticism poem since this iambic meter was frequently used in Renaissance poetry.
In the second stanza of the poem, Poe calls out to Irene and speaks to her expecting her to hear what he is saying even though she is asleep. This is a figure of speech that Poe uses known as an “apostrophe,” where the poet addresses a person who is absent and cannot answer the poet. Usually, an apostrophe in a poem begins with O or Oh, as seen in the opening line of the second stanza: “Oh, lady bright! can it be right-” (18). Like many of Poe’s other poems, alliteration plays an integral role in “The Sleeper,” by helping maintain the musicality and rhythm of the poem. For instance, the “m” sound is repeats itself in the first two lines of the poem, “midnight” and “month,” and mystic” and “moon.” Similarly, the “f” sound repeats itself in the following lines of the fourth stanza, “far” and “forest,” and “unfold.”
The first stanza of Poe’s poem, “The Sleeper,” displays how effectively he uses imagery and language. Poe is known for vividly describing his extravagantly passionate characters, and the environment inhabited by them. In the first stanza of the poem, Poe obtains this strong imagery by using an eerie vocabulary. By using words like “mystic moon./An opiate vapour” (2-3), and others like ghosts, shadows, whispers, and wizard, Poe emphasizes his spiritually connected perspective. In Romanticism poems, it was common to stress such a spiritual connection. Of course, since Poe’s poems, including this one, fall more into the Dark Romanticism category so although he is emphasizing this spiritual connection, the imagery he uses is strongly eerie and odd. Poe further uses language to convey this dark Romanticism, using more eerie words, such as grave, lies, rest, and slumber. Poe uses the spiritual connection he establishes with a higher power to speak with the lady in the long dress.
Gradually, readers begin to understand the overall theme of Poe’s poem. Poe creates an inescapable and melancholic environment for his protagonist. The main character in the poem cannot accept that his lover is dead. He keeps saying that she is asleep, in the first line of the fourth stanza he says: “My love, she sleeps! Oh, may her sleep.” Although the poem is inherently dark but the pain of the protagonist over the death of his lover causes the poem to become romantically inclined. Poe establishes this dark romanticism in this poem using strong literary devices (Werlock). The protagonist’s lover prevents him from moving on, and he keeps mourning about this. Poe successfully describes this exhausting mourning process by using eerie characters such as ghosts. Poe often describes the protagonist’s lover when he is dreaming. Using eerie detail and romanticism can also be seen as Poe’s way of allowing and helping the protagonist cope.
Throughout the poem, not only does the protagonist continue believing that his lover is asleep for eternity, but he denies the fact that him himself is stuck in a deep dream he cannot wake up from. Poe’s “The Sleeper” is a good example of contrasting literary periods as well. The strong use of death, imagery, language, and spiritual connection are all typical of Poe’s dark style of writing; however, his inclination towards Romanticism causes his poem to become more inclined towards Dark Romanticism. It is apparent that transcendental love is the theme of the poem. The protagonist’s love for his lover is so powerful that he continues loving even after her death, making it difficult for him to accept that she is death, and entrapping him in a deep dream. Like many of Poe’s other poems, “The Sleeper” also revolved around a deceased beautiful woman.
Works Cited
Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Sleeper." Edgar Allan Poe, short stories, tales, and poems. N.p.. Web. 12 Apr 2013.
Werlock, Abby H. P. "Poe, Edgar Allan." Facts on File Companion to the American Novel (Companion to Literature) 3-Volume Set. New York, NY: Facts on File, 2006. Print.
