irst place. According to Bloom, “ever since the deaths of his mother and foster mother, Poe had felt an overwhelming need to have supportive, loving women near him, and the marriage to Virginia ensured that he would be able to maintain his close relationship with her and her mother” (13). But if she does not die, he has to see her tormented soul everyday.His dilemma brings about the third point in the poem. The only way life could return to normal for him is if she recovers fully. The failure of the doctors who attempted to heal her made him wonder if there was anybody able to do the job. By asking if there was “balm in Gilead,” Poe expresses his hope of finding that one person with a magic touch. To understand the point he is trying to make by asking about balm, one has to use the bible as a reference; book of Jeremiah to be precise – “Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?” (Jeremiah 8:22). By the tone of Poe’s words, when he asked the question, his frustration becomes undeniably clear. But the question by itself is a crossroad. On one side, the severity of her illness may have crippled the doctors from curing her. On the other hand, it is possible that there were physicians who could have helped her but lack of money prevented him from acquiring their services. Both points are valid, open for discussion. But the lack of detailed information about the matter in Poe’s somewhat corrupted biography, prevents one from taking a side.The question about Gilead also establishes a link to Poe’s fourth point. By looking at the verse that led to Jeremiah 8:22, the reason why the daughter of God’s people came-down with a sickness becomes evident: “. . . Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities” (Jeremiah 8:19). Anyone who has s...
