To Helen - Edgar Allan Poe

This is one of my favorite poems, though it's hard for me to put my finger on why.  I find the imagery evocative -- and really, there's nothing here *but* imagery -- and I love the use of alliteration and sound.  I enjoy the references to classical subjects which imbue the entire poem.  In the end, I find the poem simple, beautiful, and supremely effective.

To Helen

Helen, thy beauty is to me
Like those Nicean barks of yore,
That gently, o'er a perfumed sea,
The weary, wayworn wandered bore
To his own native shore.

On desperate seas long wont to roam,
They hyacinth hair, thy classic face,
Thy Naiad airs have brought me home
To the glory that was Greece,
And the grandeur that was Rome.

Lo! in yon brilliant window niche
How statue-like I see thee stand,
The agate lamp within thy hand!
Ah, Psyche, from the regions which
Are Holy Land!