![]() ![]() ![]() The noun reverie appears more than a dozen times in Poe's works, including the title of his poem " The Forest Reverie." Referring to a daydream or the condition of being lost in thought, it is an unusually light and optimistic word given Poe's general association with the dark and gruesome. We get nepenthe via Latin from the Greek prefix nē -, meaning "not," plus penthos, meaning "grief" or "sorrow." Its tradition as a go-to word for poets dates back to Homer's Odyssey and was perpetuated by writers such as Edmund Spenser and Robert Browning. Poe's nameless narrator is seeking a way to forget his lost love, Lenore, and desperately asks the taunting raven if he has come to provide him a way to do so, finding a word that also rhymes with "lent thee" from the previous line. Nepenthe once referred to a potion used by the ancients to make one forget pain or sorrow it was later used for anything that provided such relief. Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!” Respite-respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore “Wretch,” I cried, “thy God hath lent thee-by these angels he hath sent thee ![]() Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor. Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |