The Poetry

During VD1 Damon quotes to Elena the first few lines of a poem entitled To Helen. The poem, written by Edgar Allen Poe was written in 1831. There are actually two To Helen poems, the first which is the version that Damon quoted was written for Mrs. Craig Stith Stannard. In a later poem, also titled To Helen, was addressed to Sarah Helen Whitman.

Helen, thy beauty is to me
Like those Nicean barks of yore,
That gently, o'er a perfum'd sea,
The weary way-worn wanderer bore
To his own native shore.

On desperate seas long wont to roam,
Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face,
Thy Naiad airs have brought me home
To the beauty of fair Greece,
And the grandeur of old Rome.

Lo! in that little window-niche
How statue-like I see thee stand!
The folded scroll within thy hand —
A Psyche from the regions which
Are Holy land !

So what does it mean?

The poem is about remembering the past in something in the present. So, the poem could mean that Damon is reminded of the past in Elena - for example, Katherine.

About Edgar Allen Poe

Known most famously for his work, The Raven, Poe is a American writer and critic. He was born in 1809 and has since become one of the most influential literary figures. Much of his work is dark, probably owing to a life of loss and several writers have pointed out that his work is even 'vampiric'. He died in 1849.