"Eldorado" analysis is here.
"Epigram for Wall Street" analysis is here.
Since we were having difficulties understanding "Enigma" at all, we've decided to use the simpler TPCASTT grid. Once we have a more solid understanding, we may revisit with the vendler grid.
Title: "Enigma"
The title immediately suggests a sense of mystery. It lets the reader know that the content of poem is ambiguous and relies on inference more than concrete facts.
Paraphrase:
Poe makes several references to literature and writers. He gives hints to attributes that made these writers legendary and has the reader guess who he is writing.
The noble man from the Allegory
The writer who caused anger
...
A man convicted by the culture he wrote for
...
Connotation:
Indicted --> Persecuted
Prince --> Authoritative Figure
Paints --> Evokes images in audience's mind
Departed hours --> Times passed
Hand that traced inexorable rage --> One whose writing caused anger
Attitude:
Poe's attitude is whimsical. He's writing a riddle, and thematically there is not much of a message beyond that. On the other hand, he has chosen a fairly serious subject to write the enigma, especially given that he is a writer himself. Within this fairly playful structure, he writes with a reverent and dramatic tone.
Shift:
The poem has awkward shifts in that since it is a riddle about several people, there is a shift in subject practically every other line. However, there is a more overarching shift in the line "The prince of harmony and stirling sense" when the reader begins to realize that Poe's writing is focused on different types of people. At this point, Poe is helping to clue the audience in that "Enigma" is more than just a poem.
Title Revisited:
Plain and simple, Poe is saying that he is literally writing an enigma. It's a riddle.
Theme:
Writers and all united in the form of expression.
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