Helen of Troy, and Other Poems

"Helen of Troy, and Other Poems" by Sara Teasdale is an early 20th-century poetry collection that uses classic characters from Greek mythology and historical figures to examine how love's beauty comes with pain. The poems explore desire and regret as love is presented as a double sided powerful force. The character Helen, in the poem "Helen of Troy," is an example of beauty and devastation and shows the battle of beauty and sadness. Other poems like "Beatrice" and "Sappho" show the challenges that iconic women from stories and history face when it comes to love, mixing their stories with Teasdale’s own experiences of wanting something and dealing with loss, reflecting the short-lived nature of love and its everlasting impact.