Was Edgar Allan Poe A Rebel?

Edgar Allan Poe was a 19th century American poet, author, and critic. Poe is often described as a rebel against society and art-for-art's sake supporter who experimented in making his poems without didacticism and devoid of any meaning, but he is also respected as a genius in terms of his commitment to art and his ability to experiment with various forms of expressions (Fromm 304). In my opinion, Poe was not a rebel because he remained true to himself. Although he was influenced by traditional artists, he adapted this tradition to his personal being. Although he might have been perceived as a rebel against society because of his innovative views on the world, human beings, and poetry, I believe his work remains popular and influential today

In fact, this is one of the rare poems from Poe I personally find inscrutable. “The Bells” is a poem divided into four parts, and each part describes the sounds of bells from different materials. The first part describes the sound of silver bells, and Poe expresses their sound as divine beauty. The second part describes the gold bells, and Poe claims their sound foretells happiness and harmony in the world. The third part describes brazen bells and their terrible and turbulent tunes. Finally, the last part describes the sound of iron bells, and how they influence the world of solemn thought, but he describes the people inhabiting that world as neither brutes or humans, but ghouls instead. Although the dynamic flow of words in “The Bells” is different from other Poe's poems, and promotes cheerful and energetic emotions, Poe's words approach the topic from several emotional extremes. Poe describes the bells in four variations altogether – divine, harmonious, horrible, and melancholic. In my opinion, this is one example of how tradition had influenced Poe's work because these four types of bells can be correlated to the four eras of human development in the Greek mythology – the golden, silver, bronze, and iron age. However, Poe's individuality is

I believe Poe does not lack didacticism in his poems, but I agree that he had certain linguistic limitations in his work because he was trying to express experiences and values he could not express through words. Furthermore, I am not certain Poe himself understood most of his beliefs that resulted from his experiences because his insights were not based on the values of society. Poe's writing often conveyed the opinion that the self in people is not true because it is a product from external social influences and historical contexts in which individuals develop (Weinstock 50). Although Poe's character was certainly influenced by the social setting and environmental influences, his work reflects his insight that it is impossible to own oneself because the self we know is not real and does not belong to us because it was created from external influences (Weinstock 50). Although Poe's external influences are sometimes conveyed through poems such as “For Annie” and “ To My Mother,” most of his poems reflect deeper insights he had gained in his life. Perhaps he was able to gain them because he was aware of the separation between social influences and the true self. Either way, Poe's poetry was consistent because it was written as an expression of his