Lenore: Themes | SparkNotes

Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.

The Importance of Moving Through Grief

The central theme in “Lenore” concerns the importance of moving through grief in the face of devastating loss. However, a conflict arises regarding the best way to move through that grief. This conflict plays out through a dialogue that takes place between a chorus of townspeople and Guy de Vere, whose fiancée has just died. The chorus implies that Guy de Vere is still in shock from Lenore’s death, such that he has not yet processed his feelings of grief. It is for this reason that they insist on performing proper funerary rites. But Guy de Vere has a different idea about what he should do. Instead of performing sad songs, he wants to sing jubilant tunes of enthusiastic praise, which he thinks will be more effective in helping Lenore’s spirit reach Heaven. What remains unclear, however, is just how successful Guy de Vere’s method will be in helping him process his grief. Given the bitterness of his outburst in the second stanza, his mental state seems unstable. Furthermore, his desire to avoid all forms of solemnity suggests that he’s still in denial and may be headed for a downward emotional spiral.

The Special Tragedy of Premature Death

One of the most prominent themes in all of Poe’s work relates to the special tragedy of premature death, particularly of beautiful young women. Like many of Poe’s other poems and short stories, “Lenore” centers on a young woman’s untimely demise. In the dialogue that unfolds between the chorus of townspeople and Guy de Vere, we readers learn very little about the circumstances surrounding Lenore’s death. Instead of giving the reader any concrete information about Lenore’s death, the poem places much more emphasis on the tragedy of premature death itself. The chorus underscores this point when they suggest the type of funerary rite that should be performed:

An anthem for the queenliest dead that ever died so young—
A dirge for her the doubly dead in that she died so young.

The chorus (lines 6–7) claims that Lenore’s premature demise counts as a kind of double death—that is, a death that is doubly tragic. For this reason, the chorus implies, Lenore deserves an especially melancholy funeral dirge that would sufficiently acknowledge the special tragedy of her death.

The Power of Denial

Despite knowing that his fiancée has died, Guy de Vere doesn’t appear to have fully accepted the reality of her passing. One sign that the bereaved man may be in denial is the fact that he never says her name. By contrast, the chorus says her name twice. The first reference comes in the opening stanza, where the chorus points to her dead body: “See! on yon drear and rigid bier low lies thy love, Lenore!” (line 4). Later, in the third stanza, the chorus again refers to “the sweet Lenore” who “hath ‘gone before’” (line 15). The chorus’s repeated use of Lenore’s name reflects the consistency of their message about the importance of performing funerary rites. By contrast, Guy de Vere avoids saying his dead fiancée’s name. His mental state also proves to be erratic, as he moves from bitterness and anger in the second stanza, to an almost manic jubilance in the final stanza. It’s worth noting, too, that whereas the chorus’s two stanzas are identical in length, Guy de Vere’s stanzas are uneven, with the first being just five lines rather than seven. These signs all suggest that Guy de Vere’s denial has the power to induce mental instability.

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