Morrison Marketing

Augusta, Georgia, USA

Review of Edgar Allen Poe

"The city by the Sea"

     This poem was written in 1831 and revised in 1845. It is a step away from the usual subject of Poe and many other poets works, woman. The poem is by itself in Poe like stories and is a good 3 minute read to keep your mind refreshed. Similar Poe poems are "The Sleeper" and "The Village of Unrest"

Lo! Death has reared himself a throne

In a strange city lying alone

Far down within the dim West,

Where the good and the bad and the worst and the best

Have gone to their eternal rest.

There shrines and palaces and towers

(Time-eaten towers that tremble not!)

Resemble nothing that is ours.

Around, by lifting winds forgot,

Resignedly beneath the sky

The melancholy waters lie.

(It seems Poe is speaking of a fantasy land of the sorts for himself. It is as if he is sharing his uncensored view of a beautiful city. I have outlined in some other reviews on Poe, that he seems to enjoy the eventual death of a person and this city seems to be dying in the same manner as his other characters. It reminds me of New York in the line "Where the good and the bad and the worst and the best" in that the city draws all kinds of people)

No rays from the holy heaven come down

On the long night-time of that town;

But light from out the lurid sea

Streams up the turrets silently —

Gleams up the pinnacles far and free —

Up domes — up spires — up kingly halls —

Up fanes — up Babylon-like walls —

Up shadowy long-forgotten bowers

Of sculptured ivy and stone flowers —

Up many and many a marvelous shrine

Whose wreathéd friezes intertwine

The viol, the violet, and the vine.

So blend the turrets and shadows there

That all seem pendulous in the air,

While from a proud tower in the town

Death looks gigantically down.

(The reflection of the city in the water speaks to me of reflections of better days. In this part, it makes me think of Rome with all of her past glories. The city has all the marking of being once great, it reminds me of Detroit in that manner. And of course, in this city, death looks over the people like Batman looking for criminals)

There open fanes and gaping graves

Yawn level with the luminous waves;

But not the riches there that lie

In each idol's diamond eye —

Not the gaily-jeweled dead

Tempt the waters from their bed;

For no ripples curl, alas!

Along that wilderness of glass —

No swellings tell that winds may be

Upon some far-off happier sea —

No heavings hint that winds have been

On seas less hideously serene.

(The peoples wealth may have came from trade in the water. The riches were maybe enabled by the water, but the water may be somewhat cursed, if that makes sense, so therefore cursing the city. The relationship between this city and the death filled sea seems to be strong)

But lo, a stir is in the air!

The wave — there is a movement there!

As if the towers had thrust aside,

In slightly sinking, the dull tide —

As if their tops had feebly given

A void within the filmy Heaven.

The waves have now a redder glow —

The hours are breathing faint and low —

And when, amid no earthly moans,

Down, down that town shall settle hence,

Hell, rising from a thousand thrones,

Shall do it reverence

(Now the city seems to be a place of sin. This reminds me of the city of Solomon and it needs to be purged. Hell is not only seeming to be the cure, but also a punishment)

     Overall this is a creepy little poem. It makes me think Poe might have worte if from the foggy emory of a dream or the likes. he was one to read of great cities and had seen most of Americas great cities in his lifetime. The city by the Sea reflects  in some indirect ways, an America city by the seas in the mid 19th century  Urbanization was a strong trend back then and the focus on cities may be a sign of the increasingly "Urban Poet".

I give this poem a 9/10 for originality and gloominess.

Thanks for reading my article, have a good day,

Morrison Marketing

Michael G. Morrison

Augusta, Ga