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Edgar Allan PoeA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Using carefully crafted tone, figurative language, setting, and theme, Poe weaves a story of the destruction of a beautiful palace and its transformation into a haunted one, all the while presenting an allegory for damage wrought by mental and physical illness.
In the first stanza, Poe evokes a happy, peaceful tone, describing the setting as the “greenest of our valleys” (Line 1). The setting and imagery conjure a mood of serenity and joy. When Poe begins describing who lives in the palace, he uses figurative language and imagery to suggest that the palace is a symbol of something more complex. In Line 4, the palace is personified when the speaker says it “reared its head.” This image connects the palace with the human head. In Line 5, the king of the palace is named “Thought.” These two lines imply that the palace is meant to symbolize a human head: Just as a king controls his kingdom, the mind is responsible for all of the actions a person takes because it is through thought that people have reason and make decisions.
By Edgar Allan Poe
A Dream Within a Dream
A Dream Within a Dream
Edgar Allan Poe
Annabel Lee
Annabel Lee
Edgar Allan Poe
Berenice
Berenice
Edgar Allan Poe
Hop-Frog
Hop-Frog
Edgar Allan Poe
Ligeia
Ligeia
Edgar Allan Poe
Tamerlane
Tamerlane
Edgar Allan Poe
The Black Cat
The Black Cat
Edgar Allan Poe
The Cask of Amontillado
The Cask of Amontillado
Edgar Allan Poe
The Conqueror Worm
The Conqueror Worm
Edgar Allan Poe
The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
Edgar Allan Poe
The Fall of the House of Usher
The Fall of the House of Usher
Edgar Allan Poe
The Gold Bug
The Gold Bug
Edgar Allan Poe
The Imp of the Perverse
The Imp of the Perverse
Edgar Allan Poe
The Lake
The Lake
Edgar Allan Poe
The Man of the Crowd
The Man of the Crowd
Edgar Allan Poe
The Masque of the Red Death
The Masque of the Red Death
Edgar Allan Poe
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
Edgar Allan Poe
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket
Edgar Allan Poe
The Oval Portrait
The Oval Portrait
Edgar Allan Poe
The Philosophy of Composition
The Philosophy of Composition
Edgar Allan Poe