Reflection: Edgar Allen Poe- Eldorado

Dark Romanticism could be something that is described as most blatantly dark.  By dark, I mean mysterious, eerie, weird, strange, out of the ordinary, and bad.  It does not mean that somebody had turned the lights out or physically dark.  Romanticism still carries this sense of exploring nature as the root of all things, the being and end of all things.  Without being close and connected as one with nature, one could not fully reach their highest point of potential.

In Edgar Allan Poe's "Eldorado," he starts off with explaining the main character, I guess you could say, that guide us through this story presented to us in the form of a poem.  He explains that there is a knight who is essentially adorned, meaning that he is in full armor and metals.  He is happily and proudly trotting around on his horse with high honor.  This knight has been traveling far and in between for Eldorado(lines1-6).  Said to be singing a song, the knight travels regardless whether is is a good day or a bad one.  We can see this from Edgar Allan Poe's use of nature and the sun to explain the bright days and a shadow to explain the dark, somber days(line 3).

The next verse explains that this knight he has spoken of, has been traveling for a great amount of time and now has come of a great age.  This knight is explained to be "bold"(line8).  This explains his great willingness and determined state to find what he is in search of; Eldorado. The next lines show that as he entered death, he finally found Eldorado.  This can give the reader a guess that maybe the knight was never ever capable of finding Eldorado until his timely death(lines 7-12).  He encounters a pilgrim shadow which could possibly be something like an angel of death who then tells the knight where he can find Eldorado.  This angel then tells him that Eldorado is over the mountains, and down the valley of shadow, which again implies a sense of nature (lines 15-24).  The valley of shadow also implies an idea that it may resemble death and dying.  This is also a quality of dark romanticism because it uses nature in a somber dark form sending a message that greed may lead to death(Huff 1).

This knight hasbeen on the search for Eldorado which is known to be a lost city of gold.  Poe might have used some sort of symbolism making Eldorado symbolize a great need or want of the knight which may, or may not include happiness(Huff 1). Just as the shadow symbolized death in one stanza, pain of the heart in another, and its literal meaning in another, Eldorado may have different meaning through out the poem for Poe(Huff 1).  The use of nature surrounding the knight can be seen as a bold example of the Romanticism writing style, but it is the symbol of death from the shadow that makes is a Dark Romanticism writing style.

Huff, Randall. "'Eldorado'." The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry, vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CPAP0114&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 18, 2012).

"Edgar Allan Poe: Eldorado." Poetry Lovers' Page. Web. 18 Jan. 2012. <http://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/poe/eldorado.html>.