# The Bridal Ballad explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Edgar Allan Poe.

## What happens

A bride reflects on her wedding day, outwardly expressing happiness while inwardly haunted by the memory of a former lover who died in battle. Her vows to her new lord feel like a knell, and she fears the dead man may not be happy now.

## Themes in this chapter

### Loss and Grief

The bride grieves her dead lover D'Elormie even as she marries another, her happiness a mask for sorrow.

### Dreams vs. Reality

The bride's waking life is a dreamlike state; she wishes to awaken from the nightmare of her broken faith.

### Death and Mortality

Death intrudes on the wedding through memory of the fallen soldier, and the bride fears for the dead man's happiness.

## Character check-ins

### Narrator

The bride who speaks the poem, torn between her present marriage and grief for a lost love.

### Death

The dead lover D'Elormie, who fell in battle and whose memory haunts the bride.

## Key lines

> The ring is on my hand, And the wreath is on my brow; Satins and jewels grand Are all at my command And I am happy now.

I wear the wedding ring and crown, dressed in luxury, and I declare I am happy.

_The bride's opening assertion of happiness is immediately undercut by the poem's darker undertones._

> For the words rang as a knell, And the voice seemed his who fell In the battle down the dell, And who is happy now.

His vows sounded like a funeral bell, and his voice reminded me of the one who died in battle—and who is now supposedly happy in death.

_The bride conflates her new husband's voice with her dead lover's, revealing her unresolved grief._

> Would to God I could awaken! For I dream I know not how, And my soul is sorely shaken Lest an evil step be taken— Lest the dead who is forsaken May not be happy now.

I wish I could wake from this nightmare; I am terrified that my betrayal might mean the dead man I abandoned is not at peace.

_The bride's final plea reveals her guilt and fear that her dead lover's soul suffers because of her remarriage._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_4_se/chapters/the-bridal-ballad
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_4_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_4_se/chapters