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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 figurative language, imagery, repetition, and rhyme, Poe weaves together an ode that is universal in its themes of love, motherhood, and family, and yet suits the specific and unique set of circumstances in his life. The poem is as much an ode to his mother-in-law as it is a poem expressing love for a deceased wife, with Poe referring to Virginia several times throughout the poem and mourning her tragic death.
Beginning as if in the middle of thought with the word “Because” (Line 1), the poet describes divine imagery of the heavens to justify the use of the word “mother” for the person he is addressing. The speaker begins by meditating on the concept of mothers in general without referring to specific individuals in Poe’s life. Poe includes imagery of “the Heavens above” (Line 1), angelic beings, and a tender love that cannot be put into words. Poe decides that the most accurate way to put this love into language is by using the name “mother” to refer to the person he is addressing.
By Edgar Allan Poe
A Dream Within a Dream
Edgar Allan Poe
Annabel Lee
Edgar Allan Poe
Berenice
Edgar Allan Poe
Hop-Frog
Edgar Allan Poe
Ligeia
Edgar Allan Poe
Tamerlane
Edgar Allan Poe
The Black Cat
Edgar Allan Poe
The Cask of Amontillado
Edgar Allan Poe
The Conqueror Worm
Edgar Allan Poe
The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
Edgar Allan Poe
The Fall of the House of Usher
Edgar Allan Poe
The Gold Bug
Edgar Allan Poe
The Haunted Palace
Edgar Allan Poe
The Imp of the Perverse
Edgar Allan Poe
The Lake
Edgar Allan Poe
The Man of the Crowd
Edgar Allan Poe
The Masque of the Red Death
Edgar Allan Poe
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
Edgar Allan Poe
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket
Edgar Allan Poe
The Oval Portrait
Edgar Allan Poe