Abstract: Allan Poe is one of the significant writers in America and his two masterpieces of his lifetime are The Raven and Annabel Lee. Death theme is pretty common in Poe’s works and is recognized as a climax of death theme for its unique literary expressions. Death theme can penetrate every word of his poems even with two total different keynotes and reaches a new height under the effect of eloquent symbolism and beautiful poetry rhyme plus the gothic and folksy style. By focusing on emotional keynotes, techniques and style in his two works, the author tends to unveil the literariness of death theme of Poe.  

Key words: Allan Poe ; death theme ; literary expressions

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

1.1 Allan Poe and His Life Experience-1

2. Literature Review-4

2.1 The Study of the Death Theme-4

2.2 Death Theme of Allan Poe-6

3. Expression of the Death Theme in Emotional Keynotes-7

3.1 The Positive Side－“Love”-7

3.2 The Negative Side－“Death”-9

4. Expression of the Death Theme in Techniques-10

4.1 Symbolism-10

4.2 Rhyme-13

4.3 Rhythm-17

5. Expression of the Death Theme in Style-19

5.1 Gothic-19

5.2 Folksy-20

6. Conclusion-21

References-23