Sea as a Multi-Meaning Symbol in Edgar Poe’s Poetry

Abstract

The present article aims at determining the symbolic meaning of sea in Edgar Poe’s poetry. It deals with the essence of symbolism and symbols and is focused on Edgar Poe’s contribution to symbolism as literary movement, as well as different symbols used in his poems. From a great number of symbols sea has been selected as a less-studied and multiple-meaning  symbol. It has been examined in view of the traditional associations connected with it, also its usage in the Bible, mythology and literatures of different epochs. The article contains analysis of several poems by Edgar Poe where sea symbolizes very different things. It has been stressed that since Poe’s works reflected his tragic life, the poet employed numerous symbols to express his own emotions, sea being one of them. In different poems, this symbol expresses the feelings that are very different and sometimes diametrically opposed to each other, and, respectively, acquires different meanings. With several other factors, its being a multi-meaning symbol became the main reason for choosing sea as an object of study.