On Edgar Allan Poe’s “Eldorado”

Abstract

Some critics maintain that Poe’s “Eldorado” is the most optimistic poem among his works; others state that it depicts Poe’s melancholic outlook on life. Nevertheless, both groups of scholars agree on one point: that “Eldorado” is a metaphor for life and the search for truth of existence. The pessimism of “Eldorado” is an open-ended question. Labeling the poem as pessimistic or optimistic is not a precise answer to the idea expressed in it. In order to answer the question posed, it is relevant to scrutinize the symbolism of the poem from the perspective of Poe’s own treatises on poetry and composition.