Helen of Troy

Nora Hopper Chesson's Helen of Troy

Nora Hopper Chesson’s Helen of Troy is a haunting and introspective lyric poem that reimagines the mythological figure of Helen not as a passive object of desire or a catalyst for war, but as a self-aware, suffering woman burdened by her own legend. Through evocative imagery, mythic resonance, and psychological depth, Chesson crafts a monologue that explores themes of agency, regret, divine injustice, and the ephemeral nature of beauty and power. This essay will examine the poem’s historical and cultural context, its literary devices, thematic concerns, and emotional impact, while also considering its place within the broader tradition of Helen’s literary representations.

Historical and Cultural Context

The Myth of Helen in Literature

Helen of Troy has been a contested figure in Western literature since antiquity. In Homer’s Iliad, she is both a symbol of devastating beauty and a reluctant participant in the Trojan War, expressing regret for the suffering she has caused. Later traditions, such as Euripides’ Helen, complicate her myth by suggesting that a phantom was taken to Troy while the real Helen remained in Egypt. By the Victorian era, when Chesson was writing, Helen had been reinterpreted through various lenses—romantic, tragic, and feminist.

Chesson’s poem aligns with the late 19th-century trend of revisiting classical myths from a female perspective, a movement exemplified by poets like Augusta Webster (Medea in Athens) and Michael Field (Long Ago). These works often sought to reclaim the voices of women who had been marginalized or vilified in patriarchal narratives.

Chesson’s Literary Background

Nora Hopper Chesson (1871–1906) was an Irish poet associated with the Celtic Revival, a movement that sought to celebrate and preserve Irish folklore and mythology. Though Helen of Troy is not explicitly Celtic in theme, Chesson’s interest in mythic retellings and tragic heroines is evident in her broader oeuvre. The poem’s melancholic tone and emphasis on fate align with the Celtic Revival’s fascination with destiny and loss.

Literary Devices and Structure

First-Person Monologue and Voice

The poem is structured as a dramatic monologue, allowing Helen to speak directly to the reader. This technique, popularized by Robert Browning and Tennyson, grants psychological depth to a figure often reduced to a symbol. Helen’s voice is weary and sorrowful, filled with nostalgia and regret:

"I am that Helen, that very Helen / Of Leda, born in the days of old"

The repetition of "that very Helen" emphasizes her self-awareness—she is not merely a legend but a real woman who has lived through the consequences of her myth.

Imagery and Symbolism

Chesson employs rich sensory imagery to evoke Helen’s lost world. The contrast between past opulence and present desolation is striking:

"Alas! my chamber in Troy’s tall city, / My golden couches, my hangings green!"

The "golden couches" and "hangings green" symbolize luxury and vitality, now irrevocably lost. The "halls... wasted with fire" and "streets... sown with salt" allude to Troy’s destruction, a historical act of erasure that mirrors Helen’s own exile from glory.

The motif of salt is particularly potent—biblically, salting the earth was a curse to prevent future growth, suggesting that Helen’s legacy is one of barrenness and ruin.

Allusion and Mythic Resonance

Chesson’s references to Zeus and the Fates situate Helen within a framework of divine cruelty. The line "Alas, that Zeus is a jealous God!" suggests that Helen’s suffering is not merely the result of human folly but of cosmic indifference. The gods, who once favored her, now abandon her to wander as a ghost—a punishment for the very beauty they bestowed upon her.

The Fates, who move "softlier still" behind her, imply that her doom was always inevitable, reinforcing the classical notion of moira (fate) as an inescapable force.

Themes and Philosophical Undercurrents

Agency and Victimhood

One of the poem’s central tensions is the question of Helen’s agency. She describes herself as a woman who "took [her] fill" of love and pleasure, yet she is also a pawn of the gods:

"Because man loved me, no God takes pity"

This line encapsulates the paradox of her existence—her beauty grants her power, yet it also makes her a target of divine and human wrath. Unlike the Helen of Homer, who is often portrayed as remorseful, Chesson’s Helen is more defiant in her acknowledgment of pleasure, yet equally tragic in her abandonment.

The Transience of Beauty and Power

The poem is steeped in elegiac mourning for lost splendor. Helen’s lament for her "golden couches" and "hangings green" underscores the fleeting nature of material and sensual pleasures. The image of her as "houseless" and "cold" contrasts sharply with her former grandeur, reinforcing the medieval ubi sunt motif—"Where are they now?"

Divine Indifference and Human Suffering

Helen’s suffering is framed not as a moral lesson but as a cosmic injustice. The gods, who once doted on her, now leave her to wander as a ghost. This reflects a broader existential critique of divine capriciousness, reminiscent of Greek tragedy’s interrogation of the gods’ cruelty (e.g., Euripides’ The Bacchae).

Comparative Analysis

Chesson’s Helen vs. H.D.’s Helen in Egypt

H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), in her modernist epic Helen in Egypt (1961), similarly reinterprets Helen as a figure of introspection and fragmented identity. However, while H.D.’s Helen seeks redemption and self-understanding, Chesson’s Helen is more resigned to her fate, embodying a Victorian sensibility of melancholy and inevitability.

Tennyson’s Ulysses and the Lament of the Aging Hero

Tennyson’s Ulysses shares with Chesson’s poem a tone of nostalgic yearning. Both speakers reflect on past glories from a position of decline, though Ulysses seeks to reclaim agency, whereas Helen accepts her spectral exile.

Emotional Impact and Conclusion

Chesson’s Helen of Troy is a poignant meditation on beauty, power, and abandonment. By giving Helen a voice, the poem transforms her from an archetype into a fully realized tragic figure. The emotional weight lies in her recognition that her pleasures were fleeting and that her legacy is one of ruin.

The final lines—

"Nor guessed I, when life went at my will, / That the Fates behind me went softlier still."

—suggest that her happiness was always an illusion, that destiny was silently stalking her. This realization lends the poem a profound sense of inevitability and sorrow, making it a powerful contribution to the literary tradition of Helen’s myth.

In conclusion, Chesson’s Helen of Troy is a masterful blend of mythic resonance, psychological depth, and lyrical beauty. It invites readers to reconsider Helen not as a mere symbol of destructive desire but as a woman who, having lived through the consequences of her legend, now wanders the ruins of her own making. The poem’s enduring power lies in its ability to evoke both the grandeur and the tragedy of a figure who, even in her desolation, remains undeniably human.

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