Eldorado analisis

Eldorado

                   Gaily bedight,
                   A gallant knight,
               In sunshine and in shadow,
                   Had journeyed long,
                   Singing a song,
               In search of Eldorado.

                   But he grew old-
                   This knight so bold-
               And o'er his heart a shadow
                   Fell as he found
                   No spot of ground
               That looked like Eldorado.

                   And, as his strength
                   Failed him at length,
               He met a pilgrim shadow-
                   "Shadow," said he,
                   "Where can it be-
               This land of Eldorado?"

                   "Over the Mountains
                   Of the Moon,
               Down the Valley of the Shadow,
                   Ride, boldly ride,"
                   The shade replied-
               "If you seek for Eldorado!"

Analysis: The theme of the poem can be interpreted in many different ways. From my perspective, I was able to find a quest in this poem. The quest is in search for happiness, in this case- El Dorado. For those who do not know the legend, El Dorado is a "place" ruled by the natives who had an abundance of gold. The quality of living is said to have been the best, a stable society, and a well rounded economy. In some ways it can be compared to the legend of Atlantis. Then one day, El Dorado disappeared. When the Spanish first came to America it is said to have been for one reason other than finding a way to the other side of the world to make business with the Indians or  Chinese: it was to find the lost city of El Dorado. 

Here  in the poem, we are presented to a knight who is in search of the city. We are told that he wasted years finding the lost city, grew old and his strength "failed him at length." And then one day he found a character who is named: "Shadow." This "shadow" tells the knight that in order to find El Dorado, he must go "down the valley of the shadow." This shadow can come to represent grief and despare, just as light represents happiness and purity. When we tie everything together, I come to the conclusion that Edger Allen Poe is telling us that in order to find true happiness, we must first suffer and learn from our mistake in order to find out that "true happiness" does not exist. Just as El Dorado, True happiness will never be found. People imagine that we will all reach the point were we are happy and there is no problems in our life. Such as climbing the ladder to the top, in life there is no end. Poe tells us that we must be happy with what he have and never get disappointing when he fall.