Israfel By Poe Essays - Poetry By Edgar Allan Poe,

Israfel By Poe Israfel: An Analysis Israfel is a mesmerizing poem, the beginning of which was first set down by Poe during his days at West Point College.(Allen 233) The poem itself is a direct contrast to Poe's usual poetry, which usually deal with death and dark thoughts or other melancholy, Gothic ideas. Poe's idea of the death of beautiful woman being the most poetical of all topics is here, nowhere to be found. This proves that Poe, when so inclined, could indeed write about something other than opium induced nightmares and paranoid grieving men who are frightened to death by sarcastic,talkative, ravens. Besides Israfel, Poe's other poetry, To Helen, as well as Annabel Lee and others, are virtually unrecognizable to the everyday reader as being works by Edgar Allan Poe. His name is usually associated with his tales of horror and the macabre. His one poem, The Raven, a work which deals with a mans steady decline into madness, is probably his most recognizable piece of poetry. A situation, which I feel is unfortunat e, considering that the aforementioned are in most cases the equal to The Raven. Scholars have bestowed upon Edgar Allan Poe, the mantle of horror writer a crown which does him a great injustice considering the great variety of works that he wrote and the passion which drove him during his writing. It is this passion that is evident in Israfel. The Poem itself draws heavily on Arabian and Oriental literature, subjects which fascinated Poe.(Allen 249) Supernatural elements, which are strong in all of Poe's works and a basic concept of all the Romantics, are represented here, as well as heaven itself. The poem is mystical in nature and a praise of inspiration, which is represented by the angel Israfel, who dwells in heaven and sings so beautifully that the stars themselves have to stop and listen. Poe's note on the text itself is taken from The Koran and reads as this: And the angel Israfel, whose heartstrings are a lute , and who has the sweetest voice of all God's creatures.?Koran. Coleridge's, Kubla Khan, in British literature , is similar to Israfel, in that they both offer a heavenly place of the ideal. Israfel seems to represent a muse, of some sort, to Poe. He sits in heaven strumming his lyre and the over abundance of his voice carries over to earth, where Poe sits awaiting the stirring of emotion. Poetry is the evidence of Israfel's existence. Who does Israfel represent? Is it Poe himself ? It is easy to think that, considering the arrogance of Poe. I'm sure he especially would have liked to think this, that he was Israfel the angel, baring his soul to the creatures of earth, human and all,exalting himself as the best poet of all the other angels, so great that they must set down their own attempts of singing and poetry and listen to his. Poe saying to Emerson, Thoreau, and the like, Listen to me! Look upon the truth of the human heart in my works, ye mighty and despair! Is Poe Israfel? In a way, yes I would say he is. I believe it is what lies within Poe's heart and therefore a part of him. His inspiration, if you like. An inspiration which urges him onward in his poetry as well as frustrates him, in that he is the only one to hear the angels music. How could they know, these heavy sleepers, these solemn memorizers of the banalities of textbooks?that in their midst, brooding over them in the long hours of the night, sat a spirit whose song was sweeter and clearer than that of all the archangels of God! How human and earthy, and how comforting to his own feelings it was, to imagine that even in heaven his voice would be heard above all others, and be found more acceptable. (Allen 233) The first seven lines concern the singing of Israfel who, as I have mentioned, sits in heaven and sings in such away that none of the other angels may surpass him. Whose heart strings are a lute, Poe writes of Israfel in the second line of the poem which he directly quotes from the Koran. He sings