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How Does The Masque Of The Red Death Affect Poe's Poetry

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Edgar Allan Poes' pieces of writing have been in print since the mid 19th century. He has written a vastly wide range of genres, however his legacy lies in horror. His poetry has a chilling effect on the reader that is unique to his style. -Poemuseum.org . It is due to his legacy and experience with fame in the horror genre that he is the master of horror.
Using The Masque of the Red Death as an example, Poes' use of literary devices has the reader biting their nails throughout the entire piece. He uses symbolism skillfully in regards to the coloured chambers. Poe represents the seven stages of man, as well as using symbolism in the colours themselves (blue meaning birth or beginning and finishing with black meaning death).
Mr. Poe leaves …show more content…

Setting a tone of suspense and unease by bringing the masquerade to a halt when the clock strikes the hour is a perfect example of his expertise. The reader is encaptured by the use of character emotions to produce fear and suspense.
Moving on from The Masque of the Red Death to another of Mr. Poes' famous writing pieces: The Raven. This poem is filed under macabre which just goes further to show how talented Edgar Allan Poe was with horror. The poetry devices used in The Raven urge the reader to gulp down each word with growing intensity.
The heartache is palpable from the protagonist as he longs for his lost lover Lenore. Poe utilizes repetition and colours in this piece as well. The raven, vast darkness of the door opened, the purple curtains rustling uncertainly. These are all symbolic of emotions felt by the protagonist and transmitted onto the reader. The purple excited the longing man showing youthfullness and liveliness. He was sadly greeted with empty darkness when he opened the door; this darkness was amplified by the ivory raven appearing and repeating …show more content…

The phrase "Night's plutonion shore" is first introduced in line 47. This appears to be a complex jumble of words however taking a closer look can release to the reader a whole new understanding. The night is already regarded as dangerous or secretive, so this brings forward more anxiety and suspicion. Plutonion can be referring to Pluto the god of the underworld. The underworld is linked with death and despair - Windows2Universe.org. A pattern is arising from these words. And quite clearly the shore refers to a body of water. Perhaps the protagonist is drowning in sorrow or he feels he is lost at sea.
The character of The Raven is clearly distraught at the prescence of this raven perched on the bust above the door. Nearing the end he almost seems to be going mad with rage and fear of the raven. He even goes so far as to refer to it as the devil, with eyes that "...have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,". The man refers to his own soul, saying that it's in the shadow of the deathly raven. The abrupt finale to this anxiety filled poem leaves the reader with much to ponder. A feeling of excitement and fear is intended and is exactly what Poe displays.
With intricate details woven into the stitching of each piece of writing Edgar Allan Poe captures the reader and runs them through excitement, fear, suspicion and sadness. He leaves no stone unturned and no symbolism left out. His superb grasp on literary devices allows

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