What does Bridal Ballad by Edgar Allan Poe mean ? and who is D'Elormie? Please Help me !

You may find the information you seek here:

[www.eapoe.org]


Les

ok thanks for your help but do you know what D'Elormie means or who it is?

There may be some information about that here:

[www.kellscraft.com]


Les

The ring is on my hand,
And the wreath is on my brow ;
Satins and jewels grand
Are all at my command,
And I am happy now.

And my lord he loves me well ;
But, when first he breathed his vow,
I felt my bosom swell —
For the words rang as a knell,
And the voice seemed his who fell
In the battle down the dell,
And who is happy now.

But he spoke to re-assure me,
And he kissed my pallid brow,
While a reverie came o're me,
And to the church-yard bore me,
And I sighed to him before me,
Thinking him dead D'Elormie,
"Oh, I am happy now !"

And thus the words were spoken,
And this the plighted vow,
And, though my faith be broken,
And, though my heart be broken,
Behold the golden token
That proves me happy now !

Would God I could awaken !
For I dream I know not how,
And my soul is sorely shaken
Lest an evil step be taken, —
Lest the dead who is forsaken
May not be happy now.


The speaker appears to be female, recently expired, it would seem. Searching for D'Elormie (without poe) yields nothing, so likely a name made up by EAP for this verse.

Someone named Dulac made a 'beautiful interpretation' of the poem, but I was unsuccessful in turning it up. The Poe society also referenced the poem 'Song', but I cannot see why.

[www.eapoe.org]

Hugh read this from the link I listed above:

> This is beyond anything in "Douze Chansons." But in Poe may be found a poem which is perhaps exactly equal to one of Maeterlinck's in subject, method, and failure in effect. I refer to the "Bridal Ballad," beginning "The ring is on my hand." The abruptness, the subdued elliptical style, the refrain, of these five verses, are so like that they might be offered to a reader who knew no French as an equivalent to one of the "Douze Chansons." For that reason only I will quote it:


Les

>equal to one of Maeterlinck's in subject, method, and failure in effect


Thanks. Did you figure out which of the Dozen (or fifteen) he meant?

ok Well thank you again ! This helped me alot !

D'Elormie is an old deceased architect that built ancient buildings somewhere in Europe. In the poem, the bride (the speaker) is looking upon her groom as this great architect, or comparing him to a great person as this. But, as with it seems all Poe's work, he has to add the word "dead" to describe the architect, just to add a dark touch.

Perhaps the subject of the poem regarded herself as the raw material that her bridegroom would make into a fullfilled and happy person (ie an 'architect' of D'Elormie's class) - that's why she married him, but it didn't work. It happens.

what is the rhyme
like is it imabic
of bridal ballad???????????????????

Yoo, go here: [www.poeticbyway.com]

Les

Yoo: can you explain what you mean? Your message is far from clear. I think you mean iambic instead of imabic. Neither iambic or bridal ballad are examples of rhyme (I suppose you want to know the rhyme scheme, correct?), so I really don't get what you mean there.

==========================
knell:
1. slow bell ring: the sound of a bell rung slowly, associated with solemnity or mourning, used to announce a death or funeral

2. ominous signal: something that signals death, disaster, or the end of something ( literary )
======================
some of the poems of Maeterlinck in french:
[perso.wanadoo.fr]

Although I think Poe's poem only ressembles them in style, I don't think he actually wrote about a same subject, but as I can't find all of the fifteen poems online, I can't say for sure.