The Bride loses her dreams and hopes and is forced into reality. The Bride is heartbroken for she cannot be with her beloved and is about to belong to someone else. Loss is another theme that is presented in the Bridal Ballad. Unfortunately, reality sets in and she comes to terms with the truth: her loved one is dead and is not coming back. For one bizarre and gut-wrenching moment, the bride imagines that she is marrying her lover and that he “is happy now”.

She remembers him on her wedding day and when her groom “breathed his vow” she thought the voice sounded like “his who fell / In…battle”. It becomes known that the bride had a previous lover, who had died in battle.

Love also makes an appearance in the poem. She had to accept, for he was wealthy and could give her and her family a luxurious and easy lifestyle, all she had to do was say ‘yes’ and in doing so, forget the one she loved. The marriage feels forced, or arranged, like as if the bride did not have much choice in the matter. She is marrying a wealthy lord who can give her “satin and jewels” and she is content, but not really happy. To be fair, the whole poem is about marriage and the emotions a particular bride goes through, throughout her wedding day. Marriage is one of the main themes in the Bridal Ballad. The poem is one of the few works by Edgar Allan Poe to be written in the perspective of a woman, specifically a recently married bride who has lost her true love. The stanzas, as well as rhyming and other techniques, construct a natural flow and rhythm for the poem and emphasise the bride’s emotional distress. It was later re-titled as “Bridal Ballad” when it was printed in the 31st of July edition of the Saturday Evening Post in 1841. Bridal Ballad was first composed and published simply as “Ballad” in the 1837 January edition of the Southern Literary Messenger. The poem demonstrates that no matter how powerful and legally binding a marriage is it cannot change who your heart beats for. It also concentrates on the symbolism of a wedding ring as finality as well as the despair and hopelessness that comes with it. Bridal Ballad is a poem by Edgar Allan Poe that focuses on the themes of marriage, love, loss and a desire for happiness.

Bridal ballad edgar allan poe