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Excerpt

Excerpt from Helen of Troy, and Other Poems, by Sara Teasdale

Helen of Troy and Other Poems

Helen of Troy

Wild flight on flight against the fading dawn
The flames' red wings soar upward duskily.
This is the funeral pyre and Troy is dead
That sparkled so the day I saw it first,
And darkened slowly after. I am she
Who loves all beauty--yet I wither it.
Why have the high gods made me wreak their wrath--
Forever since my maidenhood to sow
Sorrow and blood about me? Lo, they keep
Their bitter care above me even now.
It was the gods who led me to this lair,
That tho' the burning winds should make me weak,
They should not snatch the life from out my lips.
Olympus let the other women die;
They shall be quiet when the day is done
And have no care to-morrow. Yet for me
There is no rest. The gods are not so kind
To her made half immortal like themselves.
It is to you I owe the cruel gift,
Leda, my mother, and the Swan, my sire,
To you the beauty and to you the bale;
For never woman born of man and maid
Had wrought such havoc on the earth as I,
Or troubled heaven with a sea of flame
That climbed to touch the silent whirling stars
And blotted out their brightness ere the dawn.
Have I not made the world to weep enough?
Give death to me. Yet life is more than death;
How could I leave the sound of singing winds,
The strong sweet scent that breathes from off the sea,
Or shut my eyes forever to the spring?
I will not give the grave my hands to hold,
My shining hair to light oblivion.
Have those who wander through the ways of death,
The still wan fields Elysian, any love
To lift their breasts with longing, any lips
To thirst against the quiver of a kiss?
Lo, I shall live to conquer Greece again,
To make the people love, who hate me now.
My dreams are over, I have ceased to cry
Against the fate that made men love my mouth
And left their spirits all too deaf to hear
The little songs that echoed through my soul.
I have no anger now. The dreams are done;
Yet since the Greeks and Trojans would not see
Aught but my body's fairness, till the end,
In all the islands set in all the seas,
And all the lands that lie beneath the sun,
Till light turn darkness, and till time shall sleep,
Men's lives shall waste with longing after me,
For I shall be the sum of their desire,
The whole of beauty, never seen again.
And they shall stretch their arms and starting, wake
With "Helen!" on their lips, and in their eyes
The vision of me. Always I shall be
Limned on the darkness like a shaft of light
That glimmers and is gone. They shall behold
Each one his dream that fashions me anew;--
With hair like lakes that glint beneath the stars
Dark as sweet midnight, or with hair aglow
Like burnished gold that still retains the fire.
Yea, I shall haunt until the dusk of time
The heavy eyelids filled with fleeting dreams.

Explanation

Sara Teasdale’s "Helen of Troy" (from her 1911 collection Helen of Troy, and Other Poems) is a dramatic monologue that reimagines the mythical Helen—not as a passive object of desire, but as a tragic, self-aware figure grappling with her divine curse: a beauty so devastating that it dooms cities, sparks wars, and outlives mortal comprehension. The poem blends classical mythology with Teasdale’s lyrical introspection, exploring themes of fatal beauty, divine cruelty, immortality through legend, and the paradox of human desire. Below is a detailed breakdown of the excerpt, focusing on its textual nuances, literary devices, and thematic depth.

Context & Thematic Framework

Teasdale’s poem subverts traditional portrayals of Helen (e.g., Homer’s Iliad or Euripides’ Trojan Women), where she is often blamed for the Trojan War or reduced to a symbol of lust. Instead, Teasdale’s Helen is a victim of divine machinations, cursed with a beauty that destroys yet ensures her eternal fame. The poem reflects:

The Burden of Beauty: Helen’s beauty is a "cruel gift" from her divine parents (Leda and Zeus-as-Swan), forcing her to "wither" what she loves.
Divine Cruelty: The gods use her as an instrument of chaos, denying her the peace of death.
Immortality Through Myth: Helen’s legacy is her suffering—she will haunt humanity as an idealized, unattainable vision.
The Paradox of Desire: Men desire her body but ignore her soul, reducing her to a projection of their fantasies.

Teasdale’s Helen is both mortal and mythic, trapped between the fleetingness of life and the permanence of legend.

Textual Analysis: Structure & Literary Devices

1. Opening: The Fall of Troy (Lines 1–12)

"Wild flight on flight against the fading dawn / The flames' red wings soar upward duskily. / This is the funeral pyre and Troy is dead..."

Imagery & Symbolism:
- The "flames' red wings" personify fire as a predatory force, evoking both destruction and the phoenix (a symbol of rebirth through fire). The "fading dawn" suggests the end of an era.
- "Funeral pyre": Troy’s death mirrors Helen’s own metaphorical death—her identity is now tied to ruin.
Tone: Despair mingles with resignation. Helen watches Troy burn, but her focus shifts to her own role in the catastrophe.
Irony: She "loves all beauty—yet [she] withers it", emphasizing the destructive power of her allure.

"Why have the high gods made me wreak their wrath-- / Forever since my maidenhood to sow / Sorrow and blood about me?"

Allusion: References Helen’s divine parentage (Leda and the Swan, i.e., Zeus) and her role in the Trojan War.
Rhetorical Question: Highlights her powerlessness—she is a tool of the gods, not an autonomous agent.
Biblical Parallel: The "sowing" of sorrow evokes the biblical concept of reaping what one sows, but here, Helen is forced to sow chaos.

2. Divine Punishment & Immortality (Lines 13–24)

"Olympus let the other women die; / They shall be quiet when the day is done... / Yet for me / There is no rest."

Contrast: Other women find peace in death; Helen is denied this release because she is "half immortal".
Personification: The gods are "not so kind", framing them as capricious and cruel.
Paradox: Her immortality is a curse, not a blessing. She is doomed to eternal consciousness of her suffering.

"It is to you I owe the cruel gift, / Leda, my mother, and the Swan, my sire..."

Mythological Reference: Helen’s birth from Zeus (as a swan) and Leda explains her unnatural beauty and tragic fate.
"Cruel gift": Oxymoron underscoring the duality of her beauty—both a blessing and a destruction.

3. The Conflict Between Life and Death (Lines 25–36)

"Have I not made the world to weep enough? / Give death to me. Yet life is more than death..."

Existential Dilemma: Helen longs for death but clings to life’s sensory pleasures ("singing winds", "scent from off the sea", "spring").
Sensory Imagery: The natural world’s beauty contrasts with the horror she has wrought, making her torment more poignant.
Anaphora: Repetition of "How could I leave..." emphasizes her reluctant attachment to life.

"Have those who wander through the ways of death... / Any love / To lift their breasts with longing..."

Rhetorical Questions: She doubts the afterlife (Elysian Fields) offers any passion or beauty, making mortality seem preferable despite its pain.
Eroticism: The "quiver of a kiss" suggests that even in death, desire is absent—another layer of her curse.

4. Acceptance & Prophecy of Legend (Lines 37–54)

"I will not give the grave my hands to hold, / My shining hair to light oblivion."

Defiance: She refuses to surrender her beauty to death, embracing her role as an eternal symbol.
Metaphor: Her "shining hair" becomes a beacon of memory, illuminating the darkness of forgetfulness ("oblivion").

"Men's lives shall waste with longing after me... / For I shall be the sum of their desire, / The whole of beauty, never seen again."

Prophetic Tone: Helen foresees her mythic immortality—she will become an archetype of beauty, forever desired but unattainable.
Hyperbole: "The whole of beauty" elevates her to a transcendent ideal, erasing her individuality.
Irony: The same beauty that caused suffering will ensure her eternal fame, but at the cost of her humanity.

"Always I shall be / Limned on the darkness like a shaft of light / That glimmers and is gone."

Visual Imagery: Helen’s legacy is ephemeral yet luminous—a "shaft of light" that vanishes, leaving only a fleeting impression.
"Limned": Suggests she is outlined in memory, a sketch rather than a full portrait, emphasizing how she will be reimagined by others.

"They shall behold / Each one his dream that fashions me anew..."

Subjectivity of Beauty: Helen becomes a mirror for male desire—each man will project his own fantasy onto her.
Varied Imagery: Her hair is described as both "dark as sweet midnight" and "burnished gold", showing how she will be reinvented endlessly.

"Yea, I shall haunt until the dusk of time / The heavy eyelids filled with fleeting dreams."

Final Resignation: Helen accepts her fate as a specter of desire, haunting humanity’s collective unconscious.
"Dusk of time": Suggests the end of history, reinforcing her eternal presence.

Literary Devices Summary

Device	Example	Effect
Dramatic Monologue	Helen’s solitary speech, revealing her inner conflict.	Creates intimacy; the reader experiences her guilt, defiance, and despair.
Imagery	"Flames' red wings," "shining hair," "sea of flame."	Vivid, sensory language immerses the reader in Helen’s world.
Oxymoron	"Cruel gift," "half immortal."	Highlights contradictions in her existence.
Allusion	Leda and the Swan, Trojan War, Elysian Fields.	Roots the poem in myth while subverting traditional narratives.
Personification	"The gods are not so kind," "burning winds should make me weak."	Humanizes abstract forces, making divine cruelty tangible.
Paradox	Beauty destroys; immortality is a curse.	Underscores the tragic irony of Helen’s fate.
Anaphora	"How could I leave..." (repeated).	Emphasizes her reluctant attachment to life.
Prophecy	"Men's lives shall waste with longing after me..."	Elevates Helen to a mythic, timeless figure.

Significance & Interpretation

Feminist Rereading of Myth:
- Teasdale’s Helen is not a villain but a victim—her beauty is a curse imposed by the gods, not a choice. This challenges the misogynistic blame placed on Helen in classical texts.
- Her agency is limited—she cannot escape her fate, but she can reclaim her narrative by embracing her legendary status.
The Cost of Immortality:
- Helen’s immortality is lonely and painful. Unlike other heroes (e.g., Achilles), she gains no glory, only eternal sorrow.
- Her body becomes a prison—men desire her flesh but ignore her soul, reducing her to an object.
The Nature of Desire:
- The poem critiques how society projects fantasies onto women, turning them into symbols rather than individuals.
- Helen’s legacy is a collective dream, not her true self—she will be "fashioned anew" by each generation’s longings.
Existential Resignation:
- Helen’s final acceptance is both tragic and empowering. She cannot change her past, but she can shape how she is remembered.
- The "shaft of light" imagery suggests that while she will fade, her influence is luminous and enduring.

Conclusion: Helen as a Timeless Archetype

Teasdale’s "Helen of Troy" transforms a mythological figure into a symbol of the burdens of beauty, fame, and divine caprice. The poem’s power lies in its lyrical intensity and psychological depth, portraying Helen not as a distant legend but as a tragic, self-aware woman grappling with her own destruction. Through vivid imagery, paradox, and prophetic tone, Teasdale explores the paradox of immortality—eternal life as both a curse and a triumph.

Helen’s final words—"I shall haunt"—are a defiant claim to her legacy. She will not be forgotten, but her immortality is bittersweet: she is both the destroyer and the destroyed, forever limned in the darkness of human desire. In this, Teasdale crafts a universal meditation on the price of being remembered—and the loneliness of becoming a myth.

Questions

Question 1

The poem’s depiction of Helen’s beauty as a "cruel gift" from her divine parents most fundamentally serves to:

A. underscore the inevitability of human suffering in a world governed by capricious deities.
B. reframe the Trojan War as an act of divine sadism rather than a consequence of human folly.
C. critique the classical tradition’s tendency to romanticize the destructive power of feminine allure.
D. illustrate the paradox of immortality as both a privilege and a form of eternal punishment.
E. suggest that Helen’s tragedy stems from her failure to reconcile her mortal desires with her divine heritage.

Question 2

The shift in tone from the poem’s opening lines ("Wild flight on flight...") to its conclusion ("I shall haunt until the dusk of time...") is best described as a movement from:

A. despairing resignation to defiant transcendence.
B. visceral horror to detached philosophical reflection.
C. accusatory bitterness toward the gods to stoic acceptance of mortal limitations.
D. fragmented lamentation to cohesive mythological narrative.
E. personal guilt over Troy’s destruction to impersonal observation of human nature.

Question 3

When Helen declares, "Men's lives shall waste with longing after me, / For I shall be the sum of their desire," the primary effect of this prophecy is to:

A. expose the futility of male desire as a force that reduces women to static, idealized symbols.
B. assert Helen’s agency in shaping her legacy, despite her powerlessness in life.
C. contrast the ephemeral nature of human passion with the permanence of mythic fame.
D. imply that her beauty will outlast the civilizations destroyed in her name.
E. suggest that her immortality will be defined by the suffering she inflicts on others.

Question 4

The repeated imagery of fire in the poem (e.g., "flames' red wings," "sea of flame," "burnished gold that still retains the fire") functions most significantly to:

A. evoke the sensory horror of Troy’s destruction as a counterpoint to Helen’s abstract musings.
B. symbolize the purifying yet destructive nature of divine intervention in mortal affairs.
C. foreshadow Helen’s eventual apotheosis as a figure of both creation and annihilation.
D. reflect the duality of Helen’s beauty—simultaneously alluring and consumptive.
E. underscore the cyclical nature of desire, where passion inevitably leads to ruin and rebirth.

Question 5

The poem’s final lines ("Yea, I shall haunt until the dusk of time / The heavy eyelids filled with fleeting dreams") imply that Helen’s legacy is:

A. a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked vanity and divine favor.
B. an eternal curse that will perpetuate the suffering she has already caused.
C. a collective hallucination, perpetually reinvented by the desires of those who remember her.
D. a testament to the indestructible power of feminine beauty over mortal men.
E. a fragile illusion that will ultimately dissolve into the oblivion she once feared.

Solutions and Explanations

1) Correct answer: B

Why B is most correct: The phrase "cruel gift" directly attributes Helen’s destructive beauty to her divine parentage (Leda and the Swan/Zeus), framing the Trojan War not as a result of human choices (e.g., Paris’s abduction of Helen) but as an act of divine engineering. The poem emphasizes that the gods "led [her] to this lair" and "made [her] wreak their wrath," positioning the war as a deliberate, sadistic scheme rather than a consequence of human folly. This interpretation aligns with the poem’s broader critique of divine cruelty and the instrumentalization of mortals.