To HelenHelen, thy beauty is to meLike those Nicean barks of yore,That gently, oer a perfumed sea,The weary, way-worn wanderer boreTo his own native shore.海倫，你的美貌于我似遠古尼西亞人的帆船，輕輕飄過芬芳的海面，讓旅途勞頓的游子，回到他故鄉的岸邊。On desperate seas long wont to roam,Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face,The Naiad airs have brought me homeTo the glory that was Greece,And the grandeur that was Rome.在漂泊已久、波濤洶涌的海上，你風信子般的頭發、古典的臉龐，和尼厄神般的風采已帶我回家鄉，回到羅馬曾經的偉大，和希臘曾經的榮光。Lo! In yon brilliant window-nicheHow statue-like I see thee stand,The agate lamp within thy hand!Ah, Psyche, from the regions whichAre Holy-Land!瞧！彼處輝煌窗龕里你，恰似雕像，佇立，瑪瑙燈兒手中提！啊，普賽克，來自仙土圣地！注：1. those Nicean barks of yore: 古代尼西亞人的那些航船，意指具有古典的美。 2. hyacinth: 風信子花。根據古希臘神話，太陽神阿波羅所鐘愛的少年海爾欣瑟斯（Hyacinthus）有一頭美麗的長發，在他被誤殺后，從他的血泊中長出了一種纖細修長，迎風招展的美麗鮮花。 3. airs: 音樂旋律和曲調。 4. agate: 瑪瑙。 5. Psyche: 普塞克，古希臘、羅馬神話中嫁給愛神厄洛斯的美女。厄洛斯禁止她看見自己的形象，但是普塞克還是克制不住好奇心，在夜晚舉燈看見了丈夫的模樣，結果被逐出家門。 6. Naiad: 古希臘、羅馬神話中的水泉女神。To Helen is the first of two poems to carry that name written by Edgar Allan Poe. The 15-line poem was written in honor of Jane Stanard, the mother of a childhood friend. It was first published in 1831 collection Poems of Edgar A. Poe then reprinted in 1836 in the Southern Literary Messenger. Poe revised the poem in 1845, making several improvements, most notably changing the beauty of fair Greece, and the grandeur of old Rome to the glory that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome. These improved lines are the most well-known lines of the poem.Background Edgar Allan Poe wrote “To Helen” as a reflection on the beauty of Mrs. Jane Stith Stanard, who died in 1824. She was the mother of one of Poes school classmates, Robert Stanard. When Robert invited Edgar, then 14, to his home in 1823, Poe was greatly taken with the 27-year-old woman, who is said to have urged him to write poetry. He was later to write that she was his first real love. Theme The theme of this short poem is the beauty of a woman with whom Poe became acquainted when he was 14. Apparently she treated him kindly and may have urged himor perhaps inspired himto write poetry. Beauty, as Poe uses the word in the poem, appears to refer to the womans soul as well as her body. On the one hand, he represents her as Helen of Troythe quintessence of physical beautyat the beginning of the poem. On the other, he represents her as Psychethe quintessence of soulful beautyat the end of the poem. In Greek, psyche means soul. Imagery and Summary of the Poem Poe opens the poem with a simile“Helen, thy beauty is to me / Like those Nican barks of yore”that compares the beauty of Helen with small sailing boats (barks) that carried home travelers in ancient times. He extends this boat imagery into the second stanza, when he says Helen brought him home to the shores of the greatest civilizations of antiquity, classical Greece and Rome. It may well have been that Mrs. Stanards beauty and other admirable qualities, as well as her taking notice of Poes writing ability, helped inspire him to write poetry that mimicked in some ways the classical tradition of Greece and Rome. Certainly the poems allusions to mythology and the classical age suggest that he had a grounding in, and a fondness for, ancient history and literature. In the final stanza of the poem, Poe imagines that Mrs. Stanard (Helen) standing before him in a recess or alcove in front of a window. She is holding an agate lamp, as the beautiful Psyche did when she discovered the identity of Eros (Cupid). For further information on the agate lamp, Psyche, and Eros, sees the comments opposite the third stanza.Analysis:As is typical with many of Poes poems, the rhythm and rhyme scheme of To Helen is irregular but musical in sound. The poem consists of three stanzas of five lines each, where the end rhyme of the first stanza is ABABB, that of the second is ABABA, and that of the third is ABBAB. Poe uses soothing, positive words and rhythms to create a fitting tone and atmosphere for the poem. His concluding image is that of light, with a brilliant window niche and the agate lamp suggesting the glowing of the Holy Land, for which Helen is the beacon.Original 1831 versionHelen, thy beauty is to meLike those Nicean barks of yore,That gently, oer a perfumd sea,The weary way-worn wanderer boreTo his own native shore.On desperate seas long wont to roam,Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face,Thy Naiad airs have brought me homeTo the beauty of fair Greece,And the grandeur of old Rome.Lo! in that little window-nicheHow statue-like I see thee stand!The folded scroll within thy hand A Psyche from the regions whichAre Holy land! Revised 1845 versionHelen, thy beauty is to meLike those Nicean barks of yoreThat gently, oer a perfumed sea,The weary, way-worn wanderer boreTo his own native shore.On desperate seas long wont to roam,Thy hyacinth hair, thy