Connor CroninM. BeskinMay 3, 2014Analysis of the poemThe City Under the SeaIn every piece of literature that Edgar Allan Poe wrote, the reader can quickly understand his gothic style of writing. In his poem, “The City in the Sea” does not have a realistic location but nevertheless a setting that quickly promotes a feeling of mystery and solitude. "The City in the Sea" was a revised version of his earlier poem, "The Doomed City", in which both convey a feeling of death and loneliness. Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston. Both of his parents were traveling actors and they were very poor. Edgar's father abandoned the family in 1811. When Poe was only 2 years old, his mother died of consumption, leaving Poe an infant. A man named John Allan took Edgar to his home in Richmond, Virginia. John was a rich man. The Allan family moved to England where Poe went to a private English school in 1815. Then, after 5 years living in London, the family returned to Virginia. Back in the United States, he suffered from gambling addiction. He accumulated so much debt that his father left him again. Once again, Poe was very poor and barely had enough money to live on. On September 27, 1849, Edgar Allan Poe was found dead. His cause of death is still unknown but there are theories.Lo! Death stood upon a throne In a strange, lonely city, far away in the dark west, where the good and the bad, the worst and the best, went to their eternal rest (Poe, "The City") . From this quote, it shows how the rest of the poem was going to be dark and obscure. By the time Poe wrote this poem, he had already faced many tragedies throughout his life. it was easy to see how much the poem actually reflected about Poe. The problems he faced middle of paper...... are commonly used in "The City" in order to get a good picture. of the city, the land and the water that surround it. In line 37, Poe says “Along this glass desert.” He compares the surface of the sea to glass because of its calm and melancholy. The poem “The City in the Sea” is a very gothic poem. Poe also keeps the tone of the entire poem very dark, making the theme and setting frightening. Because of the life Poe had to overcome, the poem easily related to it. At the beginning of the poem, he sounded much like his childhood because he lived well and had a strong family and education. Everything was beautiful, just like the city. However, as time went on, his life seemed to become more worn and harsh, just like the city. It is truly amazing how Edgar Allan Poe tells his life in a poem while making it a poetic story..