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Anna Garrett
Mrs. Kirschner
English II - Block 1
9 October 2015
Dark Romanticism is a genre of writing that was
popular among the time of the Renaissance in the 19th
century. It is a branch of Romanticism and tends to
encompass dark, horrific themes without
incorporating the optimism of transcendentalism, the
other branch. Dark Romanticism is defined by specific
characteristics and can be found through the analysis
of the symbols, imagery, figurative language, tone and
theme of "Annabel Lee," by Edgar Allan Poe, "The
Minister's Black Veil," by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and
"The Piazza," by Herman Melville. 1
A symbol is a person, place, or thing that represents
something else and is typically abstract. Dark
Romantic writers commonly use symbolism in
different ways to express their new and unusual
thoughts as well as their horrific themes with
something their audience is able to 2 understand. In
Edgar Allan Poe's, "Annabel Lee", the sea is a symbol
of the underworld when the speaker addresses the
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"demons under the sea" (31). This line, in combination

with other moments in the poem that reference the
evil and darkness that lurks within the waters,
perfectly depict the sea in a way that embodies the
underworld and parallels the dark romantic theme of
evil being present in a person's surroundings. 3 The
ocean is a familiar concept to Poe's readers making it
an effective symbol. Similarly, the black veil in "The
Minister's Black Veil" serves as a symbol of the way
many people keep secrets from their closest friends
and family and the separation that that secrecy
creates. Father Hooper, the main character, begins

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wearing this veil and refuses to take it off, saying,

"this veil is a type and symbol, and I am bound to
wear it ever, both in light and darkness, in solitude
and before the gaze of multitudes, and as with
strangers, so with my familiar friends" (Hawthorne
6). 4 In creating this dialogue, Nathaniel Hawthorne
directly addresses the symbolism of the veil. He gives
readers a further understanding of how the veil
symbolizes the separation that results from having
secret sin or simply secrets in general when he writes
that the veil "seemed to hang down before [Father
Hooper's] heart, the symbol of a fearful secret
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between them" (Hawthorne 6). 5 In the time that

Hawthorne authored this short story, black veils were
a common garment worn by women, so using it in a
different way generated the cryptic symbolism that is
throughout the story and demonstrates characteristics
of Dark Romanticism. 6 Both Edgar Allan Poe and
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Nathaniel Hawthorne use symbolism 7 of familiar

objects to make their bizarre ideas more
comprehendible 8.
Dark romantic authors tend to write with vivid detail
to create imagery that conveys the eerie, somber
tones that are frequently incorporated 9 in 10 their
pieces. In "The Piazza," Herman Melville describes the
moment when the narrator sees Marianna for the first
time; "I 11 saw, through the open doorway, a lonely
girl, sewing at a lonely window. A pale-cheeked girl 12,
and fly-specked window, with wasps about the
mended 13 upper panes" (Melville 7). Readers gain a
mysterious, unsettling feeling from the realistic image
of the moment the narrator arrives at Marianna's
house, enhancing the overall horrific tone of the story.
The image that Poe creates in "Annabel Lee" when he
writes, "And so 15 all the night-tide, I lie down by my

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side/Of my darling, my life 16 and my bride,/In her

sepulchre by the sea" provokes the same variety of
feelings from readers. 14 Poe gives imagery of the
nights he spends lying by Annabel's tomb with the
dark, mysterious ocean waves washing up and hitting

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it. Both pieces of literature demonstrate the major

characteristic of Dark Romanticism that forces
readers to feel horrific feelings and think deeply about
the ideas presented. Dark Romanticism is also be
portrayed 17 through the use of figures of speech.
Authors like Herman Melville consistently use
figurative language to help explain the outlandish
ideas in their writing. In "The Piazza," Melville writes,
"nothings less than Greylock, with all his hills about
him, like Charlemagne," alluding to the first ruler of all
of Europe, King Charlemagne (1). 18 In doing this, he
effectively describes the fantastical scenery in his
dreams of how the immense size of Mount Greylock
compared to the surrounding hills gives an impression
that it is ruling over them. He uses another allusion

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later in the story to describe the truly magical things

he sees at what he thinks is a fairy circle. Melville
writes, "at least, whatever it was, viewed through the
rainbow's medium, it glowed like the Potosi mine"
(Melville 4). This is 19 an allusion to the discovery of the
Potosi silver mines in 16th century colonial Peru that
resulted in a population boom. This was 20 a familiar
sight to his audience because of its appearance in the
very famous book Don Quixote, therefore serving as a
way to help his readers understand the magnitude of
what he was talking about 21. Melville uses allusions to
provide a description of the fantastical things he
dreamt of 22.
The symbolism, imagery, and figurative language seen
in dark romantic writing works together to create the

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overall themes and tones that define Dark

Romanticism. In "The Minister's Black Veil,"
Hawthorne gives vivid imagery of Father Hooper's
veil wrinkling as he takes his slow, gasping breaths
while on his deathbed (9). The imagery creates a very
dark and somber tone and is enhanced by the
sentence following it:
All through life that piece of crepe 24 had hung between
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him and the world; it had separated him from cheerful

[ Missing article ]

brotherhood and woman's love, arid kept him in that

saddest of all prisons; his own heart; and still it lay
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upon his face, as if to deepen the gloom of his

Possibly confused word: comprehendible

darksome chamber, and shade him from the sunshine

of eternity (Hawthorne 9). 23
This gives 25 the impression that Father Hooper had an
awful life of being separated from the world with no
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interactions with others, once again reflecting the tone

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of the whole story. In "Annabel Lee," the tone is

somewhat celebratory of the love the speaker once
shared with Annabel while also blaming and

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expressing his resentment of the angels who sent the

wind that killed her. The theme of the poem reflects
the common dark romantic theme of a persons 26
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surroundings being filled with evil, shown through the

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ocean full of demons and the angels that use the wind
to kill Annabel.
Through the analysis of the symbolism, imagery,
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figurative language, tone and theme in works by

Repetitive word: girl

Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Herman

Melville, readers gain a better understanding of the
elements that define Dark Romanticism. 27 The spooky
symbols in "Annabel Lee" and "The Minister's Black
Veil, vivid imagery that provokes an eerie feeling in
"The Piazza", and language that helps the audience to
understand fantastical ideas in "The Piazza" all

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Possibly confused word: mended

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contribute to creating overall themes of evil in nature

and humans and the dark, somber tones of Dark
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Romanticism. 28

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Works Cited
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Minister's 29 Black Veil."
Nathaniel Hawthorne's Tales. Ed. James
McIntosh. New York: Norton, 1987. 97-107.
Melville, Herman. "The Piazza." American Literature.
N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Oct.
2015. <http://americanliterature.com>.
Poe, Edgar Allan. "Annabel Lee." Annabel Lee. New
York City, 1849. Print.

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[ Incorrect noun form ]

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[ Contraction in formal writing ]