home Poe feels the same about Helen Her beauty brings him rest The perfumed sea means calm water It means a soft and peaceful world Helen guides his mind toward safety She becomes a figure who helps him return to his emotional home Helen as Classical Culture In the second stanza Poe connects Helen with the best of classical culture He says hyacinth hair and classic face These short phrases show physical beauty They show perfect shape and soft charm He also says her Naiad airs bring him back to To the glory that was Greece And the grandeur that was Rome Greece means art and learning Rome means strength and greatness Helen carries both worlds She becomes a symbol of classical ideals She reminds Poe of high culture and lost beauty She brings the past back to life Helen as Spiritual Light In the last stanza Poe shows Helen as a figure of spiritual brightness He says Lo in yon brilliant window-niche How statue-like I see thee stand The agate lamp within thy hand Here Helen stands like a statue A window niche is a small space in a wall where a statue is kept This picture shows dignity peace and sacred beauty The agate lamp is a lamp made of a precious stone It gives off a soft spiritual light This image turns Helen into a holy guide She is not only a human figure She becomes a symbol of inner purification Her light shows the way through darkness Helen as Emotional Comfort Poe also idealizes Helen by comparing her to Psyche He writes Ah Psyche from the regions which Are Holy-Land Psyche in Greek myth is the Goddess of the soul Poe uses her name to show that Helen touches the deepest feelings of the heart The mention of the Holy Land gives a sense of purity peace and hope Helen becomes a symbol of emotional comfort She brings the poet back from despair just as she once helped a tired traveler return home Poe feels safe when he thinks about Helen Helen as the Union of Beauty Culture and Spirit Throughout the poem Helen carries many forms of beauty She is physically beautiful with hyacinth hair She is a classical beauty with the spirit of Greece and Rome She is a spiritual beauty with the agate lamp And she is an emotional beauty with the heart of Psyche Poe idealizes her by blending all these images For him Helen is not just a woman She is the symbol of what is fine high peaceful and eternal in human life She becomes a bridge between the past and the present She becomes a picture of what human beings dream of when they think of pure beauty In To Helen Poe turns Helen into a strong symbol of cultural greatness inner purity and soft emotional comfort Through ancient images and gentle light Poe shows how Helen heals the tired soul She becomes a timeless picture of beauty and peace nbsp