Critical analysis of the poem evening star by edgar allan poe

This article analyzes the poem 'evening' star by Edgar Allan Poe

1. Critical Analysis of the Poem ‘Evening Star’
by Edgar Allan Poe





















By: Husain Necklace
Al Jamea Saifiyah Arabic Academy

2. Introduction
Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most Gothic short story writer of the nineteenth century. He was a
predominant figure of the Romantic Movement in American literature and is regarded as the
inventor of the detective story.
He has had a very hard life. His father left him and his mother a few years later after his birth. His
mother then died due to tuberculosis. His wife – Virginia – died similarly. The recurring themes
in his works – the death of women, bereavement, horror, madness, premature burial, decay, revival
of the dead, life after death – are suggested to have resulted from his own life which – as mentioned
– was a sequence of tragic events and frequent abandonments. Poe skilfully weaved these themes
into his meticulous plots and created the macabre world of terror and dark Romanticism bringing
alive the horror through the choice of his words.
Likewise, Poe has written a magnitude of poems, all of which are largely acclaimed, read and
enjoyed. One of the darkest, fiendish and the most famous of all is ‘The Raven’ – which was the
inspiration of a Hollywood movie in the year 2012. Amongst these poems of his is the poem
‘Evening star’.
It does not narrate a series of peculiar events nor does it portray a lot of horror and supernatural
like the other poems do. Instead, this one is fairly short, concise, effective and to the point. Even
then, Poe infuses it with a lot of feelings, emotions, symbolisms and allusions which he knew
would keep the critics busy for centuries to come after his death – and it has.
This article will endeavor to analyze the poem ‘Evening Star’ by not fixating upon any
preconceptions, preliminaries or afore formulated perspectives. Instead, it will try and walk the
readers through the poem by laying out different pieces of the puzzle for them, so that they may
assemble any image according to their liking of this marvelous poem.

3. Evening star by Edgar Allan Poe:
(Published in ‘Tamerlane and other poems’ in 1827)
'Twas noontide of summer,
And mid-time of night;
And stars, in their orbits,
Shone pale, thro' the light
Of the brighter, cold moon,
'Mid planets her slaves,
Herself in the Heavens,
Her beam on the waves.
I gazed awhile
On her cold smile;
Too cold- too cold for me-
There pass'd, as a shroud,
A fleecy cloud,
And I turned away to thee,
Proud Evening Star,
In thy glory afar,
And dearer thy beam shall be;
For joy to my heart
Is the proud part
Thou bearest in Heaven at night,
And more I admire
Thy distant fire,
Than that colder, lowly light.
Analysis:
“'Twas noontide of summer, And mid-time of night;”
Edgar Allan Poe conjures a mood of loneliness and fear from the very beginning through his
meekly dark and gloomy tone. He also mentions ‘night’ which is usually affiliated with horror,
supernatural and fear – especially in Gothic stories when all sorts of violence would happen during
the ‘night’.
Moreover, anyone who reads this poem would comprehend through the very first reading that Poe
is juxtaposing between the ‘cold moon’ and the ‘evening star’. He conjoins the ‘moon’ with ‘night’
– darkness – and the ‘evening star’ with ‘fire’ – light. By doing so, he is taking a dip into the realm
of nineteenth century religion where ‘fire’ would add up to hell-fire. Considering the fact that Poe
was an atheist, why would he mention these two controversial subjects in his poem? A suggestive
answer would be that he is using these religious thoughts to announce the situation of his dire, sad

4. and lonely life, and how he would rather prefer death than life, as he puts it very subtly but cleverly,
in the final two lines of his poem: “Thy distant fire, than that colder, lowly light.”
“Shone pale, thro' the light of the brighter, cold moon,”
Poe portrays his astonishment through his tone of surprise in these lines when he states that due to
the cold moon even the stars – which would usually shine bright – now ‘shone pale’. Through this,
he is demonstrating to his readers that the ‘cold moon’ is some kind of a vicious entity which sucks
away the light from all things and leaves them cold; hence, his description of the moon as ‘cold
moon’.
As mentioned above in the introduction, Poe has had a very troubling life. He has witnessed a lot
of death and has been abandoned too many times. Therefore, it would not be preposterous or insane
if we as readers were to suggest, or imply, or perhaps contrive that the ‘cold moon’ which Poe
keeps on mentioning is a symbol for himself. The fact that everything turns cold due to the effects
of that moon, such as the stars, may allude us towards believing that Poe blames himself for the
death of his loved ones; that whatever he touches turns ‘cold’, as in lifeless, as in ultimately dies.
What strengthens this argument is that he mentions the cold moon as ‘brighter’. Meaning that he
was aware of his genius, of his talent and the skills which he possessed that very few did in his
time. However, he immediately brings forth the ‘cold moon’ again, right beside the word
‘brighter’. This could suggest that, as mentioned, Poe was aware of his genius, but he was also
aware of the mournful fact that his genius – perhaps because of himself, as mentioned before –
was left unnoticed in his lifetime. This notion would again explain to us, the readers, why he
symbolizes himself as the ‘cold moon’.
“I gazed awhile On her cold smile; Too cold- too cold for me-”
Here Poe says that he ‘gazes’ a while on the cold moon’s ‘cold smile’ which was apparently ‘too
cold’ for him. This exudes a tone of discomfort and malice.
Now, let us, as readers, perceive that Poe symbolizes the ‘cold moon’ as his life and not as himself.
What he mentions in these lines then is that he ‘gazes’ back, as in ruminates back onto his life and
witnesses how ‘cold’ it is; filled with death, pain, suffering and devoid of happiness. That is why
he mentions the ‘cold smile’ which suggest some sort of sinister-like appearance or happening.
Another perspective to this concept could be that when Poe ruminates back onto his life he notices
that his ‘cold’ life is ‘smiling’ at his present miseries and state. Which is why he would rather die
than live – as already mentioned above.
“Proud Evening Star, In thy glory afar,”
He then moves on to the ‘evening star’ describing it as ‘proud’ and with the kind of ‘glory’ with
‘far’ reaches.

5. Before I go further, it is important to mention that the nineteenth century aristocratic society was
not Poe’s favorite. They didn’t treat him as he thought they should which is why he despised them.
Moreover, we as English Literature students are already somewhat familiar with the eighteenth
and the nineteenth century society.
Keeping that in mind, when we reflect onto these lines, we can assume that Poe symbolizes the
‘evening star’ as the society around him. Which is why he states that it is ‘proud’, as in
inconsiderate about the wellbeing of others, discriminating between the rich and the poor and
between those with power and wealth. He then states: ‘glory afar’, perhaps alluding to the fact that
its influence reaches to the far corners of the world. It could also mean, considering Poe’s
resentment to it, that ‘glory’ is ‘far away’ from it because according to him it does not deserve it
or isn’t worthy of it.
Another understanding of these lines could be that by ‘evening star’ Poe imagines a life for himself
brimming with ‘pride’ and ‘glory’. Which is why he further states that ‘And more I admire thy
distant fire’, meaning he admires the ‘evening star’ more than the ‘cold moon’ – which is his
current life, as mentioned above. However, he uses the word ‘afar’ with it. Suggesting that he
himself discerned that the life filled with glory and pride which he hoped for was as far away from
him as the ‘evening star’ – Venus – was in real life.

6. Conclusion
I would like to conclude this article by mentioning that the analysis enumerated above are as per
my deductions and comprehension of the text and the context in which the poet tries to place them.
There is no doubt that this is only a drop in a vast ocean of allusions, symbolisms and meanings
which Edgar Allan Poe has embedded within his writing for his readers to extrapolate. I would
also like to state that from numerous of Poe’s poems only a few have been analyzed. Therefore, as
students of Literature it is our responsibility to understand what this great author, poet and critic
had been meaning to say through his writings. Hence, I would urge all students of Literature to
embark upon this fantastical journey so that the world may fathom the glory and greatness of Edgar
Allan Poe with much more stability and vigor.