In the present paper we organise the nautical terminology Poe uses in his fiction by using two basic criteria: thematic and lexico-semantic. Whereas thematically we distinguish between primary and secondary terms, from a lexico-semantic point of view we analyse the internal as well as external polysemy of nautical terms, with special emphasis on those who have undergone a process of gradual determinologisation. The analysis also takes into account the way translators rendered this jargon into Romanian : either making it more accessible to young readers or creatively restoring the deeply metaphorical potential of so versatile a language.