Israfel Analysis

In Heaven a spirit doth dwell
"Whose heart-strings are a lute";
None sing so wildly well
As the angel Israfel,
And the giddy stars (so legends tell),
Ceasing their hymns, attend the spell
Of his voice, all mute.

Tottering above
In her highest noon,
The enamored moon
Blushes with love,
While, to listen, the red levin
(With the rapid Pleiads, even,
Which were seven,)
Pauses in Heaven.

And they say (the starry choir
And the other listening things)
That Israfeli's fire
Is owing to that lyre
By which he sits and sings-
The trembling living wire
Of those unusual strings.

But the skies that angel trod,
Where deep thoughts are a duty-
Where Love's a grown-up God-
Where the Houri glances are
Imbued with all the beauty
Which we worship in a star.

Therefore thou art not wrong,
Israfeli, who despisest
An unimpassioned song;
To thee the laurels belong,
Best bard, because the wisest!
Merrily live, and long!

The ecstasies above
With thy burning measures suit-
Thy grief, thy joy, thy hate, thy love,
With the fervor of thy lute-
Well may the stars be mute!

Yes, Heaven is thine; but this
Is a world of sweets and sours;
Our flowers are merely- flowers,
And the shadow of thy perfect bliss
Is the sunshine of ours.

If I could dwell
Where Israfel
Hath dwelt, and he where I,
He might not sing so wildly well
A mortal melody,
While a bolder note than this might swell
From my lyre within the sky.

.: :.

I like the poem of edgar allan poe...
my name is ISRAFEL and I am so shock to see my name in one of his works...

| Posted on 2008-04-15 | by a guest

.: :.

Are you kidding? This poem is brilliantly made. It isn't one of my favorites either. But here is what I came up with:

In the poem called “Israfel” written by Edgar Allen Poe in 1831 while he was a cadet at West Point Academy, many a reader may find it a bewilderment due to it’s lack of deathly elements often found in Poe’s workings. However, like other pieces of his works, Poe is the main character mentioned: The angel Israfel. A symbol of the ideal poet who sings in heaven and captivates all with his sublime voice, which in turn causes the “stars to be mute.” Yet, Israfel is also used to examine the plight of the earth-bound poet, who also represents Poe. A Poe whose mortality places burdens on him and interferes with his ability to sing joyously. This is because he is full of grief. Grief for the women who died in his lifetime so beautiful and young. Because the earth-bound poet must reside in “a world of sweets and sorrows” and burdened with “thy grief, thy joy, thy hate, thy love” he most identifies with Poe. He mentions wishing to change places with Israfel because the women whom had died in his lifetime, he believes ascended to heaven or a higher plain. The place where Israfel dwells is a poet’s paradise. He could ascend to that plain and see the women he loved and cherished so dearly in his life.
Though the burdens of the earthly world make the earth-bound poet long to change places with Israfel, with Israfel chained to the earth he “would not sing so wildly well” but given freedom from “mortal melodies,” the poet would strike “a bolder note” upon his “lyre within the sky.”
This poem has a few similarities to “The Oval Portrait,” a story we had read in class. The reason this poem and the short story have similarities is because in the story of “The Oval Portrait” the man who had viewed the painting in the first place had seen the painting, mistook it for a living being and wished to dwell within the painting with the maiden portrayed. Because both Poe and his characters are living within “the shadow of thy perfect bliss” and constantly living in darkness and harshness, the light of heaven and perfection is out of reach for him and his doomed characters.

| Posted on 2005-11-16 | by Approved Guest

.: Israfel - critic :.

Be I so bold as to criticize the Master of Macabre and the Genius of Rhyming Verse? I cannot help but try, and since this one is not one of my favorites by Poe, I thought I would attempt it with an unbiased view.

The rhyme of course flows beautifully as in most of his poems. However, the little I know about the angel Israfel is that he will sound the trumpet on judgement day, and I saw no reference to that in his verse. I read the poem twice just to make sure I didn't miss it, but no, there is no reference to the sounding of the trumpet. Oh well, despite that omission, it is still a brilliantly composed poem.

| Posted on 2005-08-10 | by oixi