Nesace

Illustration of Nesace for "Al Aaraaf" by W. Heath Robinson

Nesace is one of the more prominent characters featured in Edgar Allan Poe's early epic poem Al Aaraaf, which came out in 1829 in the poetry anthology Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems. Together with Tamerlane, Al Aaraaf is Poe's most extensive poem. It received mostly negative reviews for its complexity, obscure references, and odd structure.

Description

Nesace is the ruler of the "anchored realm" that is Al Aaraaf, a Purgatory of sorts set between Heaven and Hell. She receives little to no description within the poem - she is said to have "angel limbs", a "gentle waist" and "golden hair".^[1] Common interpretation has her as being the embodiment of Beauty, a common theme in Poe's works.^[2]

Role in Al Aaraaf

After pacing around the gardens of Al Aaraaf, Nesace is contacted by God in the first part of the poem and is asked to rally the inhabitants of the place so that they will be admitted in Heaven. The second part of the poem has Nesace rising the angel Ligeia, and through her rousing the many Seraphs and other angelical creatures that dwell in Al Aaraaf. Two of them - Angelo and Ianthe - fail to respond to Ligeia's calling, which results in their remaining in Al Aaraaf.

References

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Al Aaraaf

Publication history at the Edgar Allan Poe Society

Edgar Allan Poe (works)

Poems	"Tamerlane" (1827) "Al Aaraaf" (1829) "Sonnet to Science" (1829) "To Helen" (1831) "The City in the Sea" (1831) "The Haunted Palace" (1839) "The Conqueror Worm" (1843) "Lenore" (1843) "Eulalie" (1843) "The Raven" (1845) "Ulalume" (1847) "A Dream Within a Dream" (1849) "Eldorado" (1849) "The Bells" (1849) "Annabel Lee" (1849)"

Tales	"Metzengerstein" (1832) "Bon-Bon" (1832) "MS. Found in a Bottle" (1833) "Berenice" (1835) "Morella" (1835) "The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall" (1835) "Ligeia" (1838) "A Predicament" (1838) "The Devil in the Belfry" (1839) "The Man That Was Used Up" (1839) "The Fall of the House of Usher" (1839) "William Wilson" (1839) "The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion" (1839) "The Business Man" (1840) "The Man of the Crowd" (1840) "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1841) "A Descent into the Maelström" (1841) "Never Bet the Devil Your Head" (1841) "Eleonora" (1841) "The Oval Portrait" (1842) "The Masque of the Red Death" (1842) "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt" (1842) "The Pit and the Pendulum" (1842) "The Tell-Tale Heart" (1843) "The Gold-Bug" (1843) "The Black Cat" (1843) "The Spectacles" (1844) "A Tale of the Ragged Mountains" (1844) "The Premature Burial" (1844) "The Oblong Box" (1844) "The Angel of the Odd" (1844) "Thou Art the Man" (1844) "The Purloined Letter" (1844) "Some Words with a Mummy" (1845) "The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade" (1845) "The Imp of the Perverse" (1845) "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether" (1845) "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" (1845) "The Cask of Amontillado" (1846) "Hop-Frog" (1849)

Essays	"Maelzel's Chess Player" (1836) "The Philosophy of Furniture" (1840) "Morning on the Wissahiccon" (1844) "The Philosophy of Composition" (1846) "The Poetic Principle" (1846) Eureka: A Prose Poem (1848)

Novels	The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1837) The Journal of Julius Rodman (1840)

Collections	Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827) Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque (1840)

Play	Politian (1835)

Other	The Conchologist's First Book (1839) The Balloon-Hoax (1844) The Light-House (1849)

Related	Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe (wife) Eliza Poe (mother) David Poe Jr. (father) William Henry Poe (brother) Poe Cottage Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum National Historic Site The Penn magazine Death Edgar Award In popular culture film and television music Poe Toaster Tales of Mystery & Imagination

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