Israfel: An Analysis "Israfel" is a mesmerizing poem, the beginning of which was first set down by Poe during his days at West Point College.(Allen 233) The poem itself is a direct contrast to Poe's usual poetry, which usually deal with death and dark thoughts or other melancholy, Gothic ideas. Poe's idea of the death of beautiful woman being the most poetical of all topics is here, nowhere to be found. This proves that Poe, when so inclined, could indeed write about something other than opium induced nightmares and paranoid grieving men who are frightened to death by sarcastic,talkative, ravens. Besides "Israfel", Poe's other poetry, "To Helen", as well as "Ann