The Valley of Unrest-- Edgar Allan Poe

The Valley Of Unrest

by Edgar Allan Poe

Once it smiled a silent dell
Where the people did not dwell;
They had gone unto the wars,
Trusting to the mild-eyed stars,
Nightly, from their azure towers,
To keep watch above the flowers,
In the midst of which all day
The red sunlight lazily lay.
Now each visitor shall confess
The sad valley's restlessness.
Nothing there is motionless-
Nothing save the airs that brood
Over the magic solitude.
Ah, by no wind are stirred those trees
That palpitate like the chill seas
Around the misty Hebrides!
Ah, by no wind those clouds are driven
That rustle through the unquiet Heaven
Uneasily, from morn till even,
Over the violets there that lie
In myriad types of the human eye-
Over the lilies there that wave
And weep above a nameless grave!
They wave:- from out their fragrant tops
Eternal dews come down in drops.
They weep:- from off their delicate stems
Perennial tears descend in gems.

Once it smiled a silent dell-- A large portion of this line is happy. You can picture a peaceful, green valley probably filled with people going about their lives. The word "once" is italicized, adding emphasis that something happened, causing the valley to become unsilent and not cheerful. Imagery helps the reader picture the setting.

Where the people did not dwell-- The people who inhabited the happy valley are away. Where they are or what they are doing is to be discovered in the next line.

They had gone unto the wars-- The inhabitants have gone to battle.

Trusting to the mild-eyed stars-- The inhabitants put their trust and future in the stars. The phrase "mild-eyed stars" suggest that the stars are dim and, in the people's view, gentle and kind. This phrase is the first of many examples of personification in this poem.

Nightly, from their azure towers-- Azure is another word for the sky. This line is saying that the stars rule from their watch-towers in the sky. This is the second example of personification.

To keep watch above the flowers-- The inhabitants trust the stars to look after them and their land. I think symbolism is found here. The flowers may represent the people. Flowers are fragile and vulnerable, just like people. The lives of both can be taken easily and can't be given back. Again, the stars keeping watch is an example of personification.

In the midst of which all day-- We don't know what yet, but something is there during the war all day.

The red sun-light lazily lay-- Red is a symbol of blood. The word lay has multiple meanings. Among these definitions are, "...to prepare a corpse for burial...", "...to bury as in a grave...", and "...to incapacitate as by injury..." ("lay" Funk & Wagnall's Standard College Dictionary 767). Both the color of red and the above definitions of lay are war-related. Just as sunlight is everywhere, I believe the line is saying that during the war, blood was everywhere you looked.

Now each visitor shall confess-- Now is italicized, emphasizing the valley's present state during the war. Every person who visits must confess something about the valley, but the confession will be known in the next line.

The sad valley's restlessness-- The valley went from cheerful and peaceful to disturbed and unhappy. The valley is restless now and not at all silent. This valley's emotion of sadness is another example of personification.

Nothing here is motionless-- The war or battle stirred everything. Nothing is still.

Nothing save the airs that brood-- Everything is motionless except the air that sits or incubates something we don't know yet. The air brooding is yet again another example of personification.

Over the magic solitude-- I'm not sure, but maybe the air incubates the solitude that will come concluding the war. The valley may be a place of solitude and loneliness after the many casualties.

Ah, by no wind are stirred those trees-- The wind doesn't stir the trees, but the unrest and fighting does. I'm not sure if this applies to the poem or not, but "tree" is an archaic word for a gallow, which may or may not have been used during the war.

That palpitate like the chill seas-- The trees quiver and tremble like the cold seas. This is the first and only simile in this poem.

Around the misty Hebrides-- The trees quiver like the seas around the Hebrides. The Hebrides are islands off the coast of western Scotland. The waters are cold and the islands are misty, adding to the gloomy, dreadful air about the poem.

Ah, by no wind those clouds are driven-- Like the trees, the wind doesn't move the clouds, but the fighting does.

That rustle through the unquiet Heaven-- Not even the clouds are still, but move through the unquiet sky.

Uneasily from morn till even-- The clouds are not stationary from morning to evening.

Over the violets there that lie-- The clouds move over the violets beneath them. Violets, a bluish purple color, may symbolize the bruises and wounds inflicted by fighting.

In myriad types of the human eye-- I'm not sure what this line means. Maybe a lot of people fought the war, or maybe a few different nationalities did.

Over the lilies there that wave-- The clouds also move over the lilies beneath them. Lilies are white, which may be symbolistic of the innocence of the young men who lost their lives.

And weep above a nameless grave-- The lilies "weep" above a grave of an unidentified soldier. The lilies weeping is another example of personification.

They wave:-from out their fragrant tops-- The lilies wave and from their tops, something happens.

Eternal dews come down in drops-- Drops of dew come down from the tops of the lilies in the form of tear drops.

They weep:-from off their delicate stems-- They weep and something happens from the stems. Again, the lilies' weeping is a form of personification.

Perennial tears descend in gems-- Dew, in the form of tears, come down the lilies' delicate stems. There is a kind of double metaphor here. The "tears" are dew drops and the dew drops are gems. There is a play on the word perennial. Both the lily and the violet are perennial flowers. The word perennial also means eternal or everlasting.

The last three lines are portrayed by personification and imagery. You can picture the scene as the flowers "weep" and dew falls down from them. As for mood changes, the beginning line paints a pretty green valley scene, then you see the valley warped by war, then the poem finishes by a sad remembrance. The theme of this poem is the results of war. War was hard on soldiers, their families and the economy. It was pretty much hard on everything. Poe even wrote about how nature was affected by it. 

    "The Valley of Unrest" by Edgar Allan Poe was a very powerful poem for me. I loved it the first time I read it. It gave me a perspective I have never seen about war. In history classes, I have heard that many soldiers lose their lives in battle and there was a lot of hardship, but those were words didn't have meaning. Don't get me wrong, I felt very sorry for the soldiers and their families because both sides were suffering something very difficult. This poem made me truly realize that these men died. They had their whole life ahead of them, but that was taken away. May they always be remembered for their valiance and bravery.