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Ulalume review

Edgar Allen Poe reviews

Augusta, Georgia, USA

(Original text from the American Review)

     Ulalume is a short, spoken poem full of the usual Poe mysteries. It is about a mystical woman named Ulalume, who may not exist at all. Edgar Allen released this poem in 1847, when his poetry was becoming more emotional and more raw to his heart. Poe was also heavily into drinking and Opiates and the springing of ideas with a lack of a central theme, "Floating" around the poem, is strong in this poem, of course, humbly in my opinion.

     Poe's wife, Virginia died in January of this year and that had an effect on Poe in the most severe way. The change of his style may have been a way to ease the pain through grief. Poe was very distraught in the last years of his life and the constant dreary state of life ate him away.

     The time that the poem takes place is October, arguably the darkest of months. The change of seasons and the increasing of the dark would set a theme that the climate controlled reader cannot relate to. The falling leaves are brown and decaying, they are "Withered".

("Lake of Auber" may be a reference to A french composer of gloomy music, Daniel Auber, one of Poes friends)

("Woodland of Weir" is a reference to a painting friend of Poe, Robert Walter Weir. This painting is called "An entrance to the woods" and was finished a year before Poe wrote Ulalume. On another hat, this artwork is very gloomy and indicates depression. The looking down of the man, the dry and grayish color of the paint and the confusion in the painting is quite exciting to the creative mind)

     I have read this poem and listened to several audio version. Jeff Buckley has a version that was released on "closed on account of rabies" a CD with Poe recording, done by relatively famous people. The Buckley version is very strong and evokes the right tone for the confusing and dreamy poem about a trip through the woods to visit a lost tomb. 

     Poe uses excellent foreshadowing in this poem and the passing of time in these short stories feel exactly in line with the time the reader is in, for example, if the story is read in 7 minutes, the story is moving at that fast also. the movement of the plot, and only the most important adjectives added make this a fast read.

     One interesting insight by one critic points to Ulalumes emphasis on the second "L". Other works like Annabell Lee, Eualelie and Lenore share this, but this may be just a coincidence. Overall, I would not be surprised if Poe did this subconsciously, he was very much one to write his mind and he did so in this poem. A perfect capture of the human mind and its struggle with the beautiful, young, dying/dead woman.