He does not find in himself the need to weep over her body. He does not believe her beauty needs to be supplemented with flowers or decorations.Īdditionally, he takes offense at the fact that her friends are crying.
The dead woman’s friends are surrounding and “gazing on her.” The “bier” or table, on which she is laying is said to be “gaudy” it is most likely overly decorated and more lavish than the speaker feels is appropriate.
The speaker then takes the reader to the body. Will it be “sung” solemnly? Or sadly? By default this question also asks, is it not more appropriate to celebrate this life? II. The speaker wants to know how the “burial rite” will be read. They also give the reader a preemptory look into the speaker’s head, at his deep emotions. These are rhetorical and are meant to set the scene for all that is to come. The speaker of ‘A Pæan‘ begins by asking a number of questions. He will sing a “pæan” to celebrate her life rather than a “requiem” to mourn it.
Her love touched everything around her, so he will not mourn. When he addresses the dead woman, who the reader learns is his wife, he tells her that while she may be dead her spirit lives on. He refuses, hits the coffin, and uses the reverberations as a part of his song. His voice is weak and they wish him to sing something sadder. In contrast, the mourners do not believe that the speaker should sing the songs he is singing. He believes that their actions dishonor her. They mourn over her departure, crying and weeping unnecessarily. The speaker takes the reader to the side of the body. He does not yet know whether a solemn or joyous song will be sung. The poem begins with the speaker trying to figure out how the “burial rites” are going to be read for the death of someone he loves. ‘A Pæan’ by Edgar Allan Poe describes the feelings experienced by a husband as he views his dead wife and his desire to sing a “pæan” rather than a “requiem.”
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