The poem describes the speaker's admiration for a woman named Helen. Her beauty reminds him of victorious Greek ships and transports him away from his weary travels, just as the glory of Greece and grandeur of Rome. The speaker sees Helen standing statuely in a window niche, holding a lamp, and compares her to Psyche, a figure from Greek mythology who embodies beauty.

2. Spanned from 1789 – 1814.
The unrest in the colonies over British rule led to
war in 1775.
The struggle between the British and American
forces was equally matched since the stakes were
high for both sides.
The colonists had leverage over the British forces
and were able to defeat their mother country in 1781,
when the British surrendered at Yorktown.
The RevolutionaryWar officially came to an end on
September 3, 1783 with the Treaty of Paris. Written
two years prior, the Articles of Confederation of 1781
declared each state would have sovereignty, freedom
and independence within the confederation of states.

3. Unfortunately, the liberty sought after and won
from the British did not extend to the poor, the
landless, women, Native American or African
American people who inhabited the newly formed
states.
The air was ripe with liberty, freedom and justice for
select landowning white men who now could chart
their own destiny, as well as, the destiny of everyone
else.
During this time, the Protestant Christian church
experienced the Second Great Awakening, where
biblical truths were employed to curb avarice and
human corruption.

4. Nevertheless, the opportunity to expand westward
and increase personal wealth fluttered before the eyes
of war weary veterans. African American women
remained enslaved and lived precarious lives of
producer and reproducer with greater urgency since
the international slave trade was formally abolished
in 1808.
The early abolition of enslavement throughout the
New England area afforded black people in that region
of the country the ability to cultivate themselves
through educational, religious and cultural means. In
1809 the African Female Benevolent Society of
Newport, Rhode Island was founded. The organization
sought to provide financial and moral support to
widows, orphans and other distressed women.

5. Biography
of
Edgar Allan
Poe
(1809 –
1849)

6. Edgar’s Childhood
Born in Boston on January 19, 1809.
His Parents were David and Elizabeth
Poe.
Edgar was adopted by Mr. and Mrs.
John Allan and Rosalie.
When Poe was 6, he went he went to
the University of Virginia in 1826.

7. Edgar’s in the Army
Edgar went to Boston and
joined the US Army in 1827.
He attained the rank of
sergeant major.
In 1829, Mrs. Allan died.
Edgar lived with his
grandmother and his aunt
Mrs. Clemn.
In 1830, Edgar entered
West Point as a cadet.

8. Edgar as StrugglingWriter
In 1831, Edgar went to New York City where he
had some of his piece.
In 1835, Edgar finally got a job as a editor of a
newspaper because he won with his story, “The
Manuscript Found in a Battle”.
In 1836, Edgar married his
cousin Virginia.

9. In 1837, Edgar went again to New York City and
wrote “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym”.
In 1838, Edgar moved to Philadelphia and
wrote “Ligeia” and “The Haunted Palace”.

10. In 1839, He wrote his first volume
of short stories, “Tales of
Grotesque and Arabesque”.
In 1840, he joined George R.
Graham as an editor for Graham’s
Magazine.
•“The Murders in the rue Morgue”

11. In 1842, he left Graham’s
Magazine and start his own
magazine called “The Stylus”.
In 1843, he published some
booklet containing a few of his
short stories “The Gold Bug”.

12. Final Days
In June of 1849, Edgar
left New York and went
to Philadelphia.
In September 30, he
meant to go to New York
but supposedly took a
wrong train to
Baltimore.
On Oct 7, 1849, Edgar died in
the hospital on Sunday with his last
words “LORD, Please help my poor soul.”

14. THE CHARACTERS
Montresor - Our narrator, is Mr. Sinister. He’s the guy
you don’t want to meet in an underground graveyard,
or anywhere else. He’s a cold and ruthless killer. He not
only enjoys killing, but also thinks it’s necessary.
Fortunato - At first glance, Fortunato seems easier to
identify with than Montresor. It’s much simpler to
relate to the victim than to the victimizer. But, in some
ways, he seems even more foreign to the reader than
Montresor. Part of this is because Montresor is telling
us the story, and he doesn’t give us much information
on his prey.

15. Luchesi - Luchesi isn’t really a character. He’s more of
a plot device. He helps drive the action. Luchesi is
Fortunato’s rival in wine tasting.
The Montresor Family - Montresor implies that all
the bodies in the place are dead members of the
Montresor family. There seem to be quite a lot of them.
This is before we know Montresor’s name, but it’s
implied that he’s a member of that family.

16. The narrator begins by telling us that
Fortunato has hurt him. Even worse,
Fortunato has insulted him. The narrator
must get revenge. He meets Fortunato,
who is all dressed up jester clothes for a
carnival celebration – and is already
drunk. The narrator mentions he’s found
a barrel of a rare brandy called
Amontillado. Fortunato expresses eager
interest in verifying the wine’s
authenticity.

17. So he and the narrator go to the
underground graveyard, or “catacomb,”
ofthe Montressor family. Apparently, that’s
where the narrator keeps his wine. The
narrator leads Fortunato deeper and
deeper into the catacomb, getting him
drunker and drunker along the way.
Fortunato keeps coughing, and the
narrator constantly suggests that Fortunato
is to be down among the damp crypts, and
should go back. Fortunato just keeps
talking about the Amontillado.

18. Eventually, Fortunato walks into a
man-sized hole that’s part of the wall of
a really nasty crypt. The narrator chains
Fortunato to the wall, then begins to
close Fortunato in the hole by filling in
the opening with bricks. When he has
one brick left, he psychologically
tortures Fortunato until he begs for
mercy – and we finally learn the
narrator’s name: Fortunato calls him
“Montressor”.

19. After Fortunato cries out Montressor’s
name, he doesn’t have any more lines.
But just beforeMontressor puts in the
last brick, Fortunato jingles his bells.
Then Montressor finishes the job and
leaves him there to die. At the very end,
Montressor tells us that the whole affair
happened fifty years ago, and nobody has
found out.

22. Unlock Words
Helen, thy beauty is to me
Like those Nicean barks of yore
That gently, o'er a perfumed sea,
The weary, way-worn wanderer bore
To his own native shore.
•Nicean barks- Victorious Greek ships.
•Yore - Long ago or former times
•O’er – Over
•Weary - Feeling or showing tiredness, especially as a result of
excessive exertion or lack of sleep.
•Way-worn -Wearied by traveling.
•Yore- Former times
•Shore - The fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water

23. On desperate seas long wont to roam,
Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face,
Thy Naiad airs have brought me home
To the glory that was Greece,
And the grandeur that was Rome.
•Wont – In the habit of doing something
•Roam – To go to different places without having a particular
purpose or plan
•Hyacinth – A type of plant that is grown in gardens and has
flowers that smell sweet
•Naiad – Any of the nymphs in classical mythology living in
and giving life to lakes, rivers, springs, and fountains
•Grandeur – Splendor and impressiveness, especially of
appearance or style.

24. Lo, in yon brilliant window-niche
How statue-like I see thee stand,
The agate lamp within thy hand,
Ah! Psyche, from the regions which
Are Holy Land!
•Yon – That or those yonder
•Niche – A shallow recess, especially one in a wall to display
a statue or other ornament.
•Agate – Is a cryptocrystalline variety of silica
•Psych - The soul, mind, or personality of a person or group

25. Lines 1-2
• Helen, thy beauty is
to me
• Like those Nicean
barks of yore
• The poem begins with the speaker talking
to a woman named Helen, whose beauty
has been to him "like those Nicean barks
of yore."
• First off, Poe is not referring to a real
woman named Helen, but to a woman
named Jane Stanard, the mother of one of
his childhood friends. Poe would later
claim that she was his first love. Keep in
mind that he fell in love with her when he
was about fourteen years old!

26. Lines 3-5
• That gently, o'er a
perfumed sea,
• The weary way-worn
wanderer bore
• to his own native
shore.
• So, the speaker feels like a guy who has
been travelling for a long time and just
wants to get home? And Helen's beauty
metaphorically takes him there. It
makes him feel safe, back where he
belongs.
• Option #1: When he was young, Poe was
an accomplished Latinist (meaning he
was really good at Latin). One Latin
poet that Poe almost certainly read was
a guy named Catullus (kuh-tull-us),
who lived from 84BC-54BC.
• Option #2: The other possible reference
for Poe's cryptic comment is the famous
Greek hero named Odysseus (a.k.a.
Ulysses).
• (Term alert! All those w's in line 4?
That's alliteration, folks.)
• The rhyme scheme is ABABB (where A
and B represent the two end
rhyme sounds you get here).

27. Line 6
• On desperate seas
long wont to roam,
• The speaker begins the second
stanza by talking about somebody
who was "long want to roam" on
"desperate seas."
• "Wont" is not to be confused with
"won't," as in "I won't do it
anymore." It is actually an old word
that means "accustomed to" or
"used to."
• And "Desperate" here means
something like "hopeless." The seas
were unforgiving and dangerous,
and thus offered no hope to the
wanderer.

28. Lines 7-10
• Thy hyacinth hair, thy
classic face,
• Thy Naiad airs have
brought me home
• To the glory that was
Greece,
• And the grandeur
that was Rome.
• Her "hyacinth hair," "classic face," and
"Naiad airs" are just like those "barks" of
line 2. The one that have brought him
back "home" to the "glory that was
Greece" and the "grandeur that was
Rome“.
• Helen's beauty reminds the speaker of
the glory of ancient Greece (the place
and time where Helen supposedly
lived). She also reminds him of the
"grandeur" (the greatness) of ancient
Rome.
• A hyacinth is a type of flower that grows
in bunches from a single stalk (they
come in a variety of colors, including
lavender and reddish-orange).
• Poe's use of the word "hyacinth" in a
poem with tons of references to
mythology makes us think of death,
sadness, and blood.

29. Lines 11-12
• Lo, in yon brilliant
window-niche
• How statue-like I
see thee stand,
• Saying "Lo" is like saying OMG
when you all of a sudden see
something astonishing.
• This comparison here with the
word "like" tells us that we've got
a simile on our hands, just in case
anybody asks.
• Could be, but she's also statue-like
because she's as beautiful as a
work of art—proportionate,
perfectly crafted, and just totally
hot.

30. Lines 13-15
• The agate lamp
within thy hand!
• Ah! Psyche, from the
regions which
• Are Holy Land!
• Helen also has an "agate lamp" in her
hand. How nice for her.
• As you've maybe guessed, Psyche is
an important figure in Greek
mythology.
• So, by calling Helen "Psyche," the
speaker essentially compares himself
to a little Cupid.
• This is a perfect story for comparison
because it involves a beautiful
woman and a younger boy.
• Remember, Poe met "Helen" when he
was a young boy, and she was his
friend's mother.
• In other words, this Helen-Psyche-
Jane Stanard character is so
unbelievably beautiful that
she must have come down from the
heavens.
• This stanza also has a unique rhyme
scheme: ABBAB.