Edgar Allan Poe is best known for his short stories in a genre of gothic fiction or gothic horror. Poe is considered an interpreter of the genre because he managed to change and renovate it by focusing on the psychology of his characters rather than traditional Gothic fiction elements. The theme of death is transversal in the work of Edgar Allan Poe. His poem The City in the Sea is no exception to this rule. A well-known critic, T. Frederick Keefer, said: "Edgar Allan Poe's The City in the Sea is one of the most effective products of his poetic genius and skill, but it is also the less understood of his major works. » (3, p. 436) The main theme of the poem is death. Edgar Allan Poe likes to play with this theme in his works: he describes it from a psychological point of view and treats all its aspects. The author uses personification to show us Death as a real character who reigns in the lost city: “Lo! Death sits on a throne in a strange, isolated town, deep in the dark west, where the good and the bad, the worst and the best, have gone to seek their eternal rest. These lines describe Death's dominion over life: the sunset, the location of the city and its calm, the "eternal rest" of all that was once meaningful and magnificent, the way Death "gazes gigantically » his possessions, and the fact that the city is “sinking slightly”. The poem provides us with what is called a mental pabulum and awakens the eternal question of the rightness of our prosperity-oriented way of life. Death is inevitable and he will eventually rule over everyone. And the last lines of the poem: "Hell, rising from a thousand thrones, will bring him back...... middle of paper ...... coming to town... But no! The life of this city is Death, and he reigns without doubt, for Death is the end of all, but there is no end to Death. Some critics suggest reading this poem in a low voice to be able to appreciate its atmosphere, to have the impression that Death is searching somewhere nearby or watching us from his throne. The poem The City in the Sea is considered the best of Edgar Allan Poe's early works, as if it previously summed up all his literary achievements. ReferencesBloom, Harold, “Edgar Allan Poe”, Chelsea House Publishers, 1999. Butler, Chris. Journal for English 28. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. August 27, 1996. http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/17841865/lit/poe.htmKeefer, T. Frederick, “College English “The City In the Sea”: A Re- Examination”, vol.25, n°6, pp. 436-439, 1964.