To Helen

Another symbol in the poem is the statue. The speaker compares Helen’s stance, or posture, to a statue: “How statue-like I see thee stand” (Line 12). This can be read as an allusion to Shakespeare’s Winter’s Tale where the statue of Hermione comes to life. In Greek myth, Hermione is the name of Helen’s daughter. Shakespeare, like the Romantic poets, uses many allusions to Greek and Roman myth. The moment of Hermione coming to life recalls the Greek myth of the sculptor Pygmalion’s statue Galatea coming to life. Helen is like a sculpture that is framed by the window. This symbolism highlights her beauty as well as how the speaker reveres her like a work of art.

The statue also alludes to the arts, especially architecture and sculpture, that remain from the ancient world. The only parts of these works that endure are the pale and smooth surfaces of the eroded sculptures, which renaissance sculptors and architects sought to emulate in their opulent yet stark character. Despite this, Roman stonework was usually painted, often with bright colors and heavy pigments. By using the “statue-like” (Line 12) description, Poe is evoking a pale and eternal beauty that never really existed, not the colorful grandeur that would be seen as crass and perhaps ugly by 19th century readers.