This article lists all known poems by American author and critic Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849), listed alphabetically with the date of their authorship in parentheses.
78-778: An unpublished 9-line poem written circa 1829 for Poe's cousin Elizabeth Rebecca Herring (the acrostic is her first name, spelled out by the first letter of each line). It was never published in Poe's lifetime. James H. Whitty discovered the poem and included it in his 1911 anthology of Poe's works under the title "From an Album". It was also published in Thomas Ollive Mabbott 's definitive Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe in 1969 as "An Acrostic". The poem mentions "Endymion", possibly referring to an 1818 poem by John Keats with that name. The "L. E. L." in
156-485: A "distant fire" the other stars lack. The poem was influenced by Thomas Moore's poem "While Gazing on the Moon's Light". The poem was not included in Poe's second poetry collection, Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems , and was never re-printed during his lifetime. "Evening Star" was adapted by choral composer Jonathan Adams into his Three Songs from Edgar Allan Poe in 1993. Originally titled "Heaven," "Fairy-Land"
234-632: A beautiful and perhaps magnificent poem. There is a good deal to justify such a hope." It was first collected in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems in 1829. In that collection, Poe dedicated "Tamerlane" to Neal. Robert Pinsky , who held the title of Poet Laureate of the United States from 1997 to 2000, said "Fairy-Land" was one of his favorite poems. First published in the Baltimore Saturday Visiter on May 18, 1833,
312-466: A complex kind of acrostic. In the manuscript, some letters are capitalized and written extra-large, non-italic, and in red, and the lines are shifted left or right and internally spaced out as necessary to position the red letters within three crosses that extend through all the lines of the poem. The letters within each cross spell out a verse from the New Testament : The " INRI " at the top of
390-405: A facsimile of the manuscript, though he admitted he added the date himself. The poem is now often included in anthologies. "Alone" is often interpreted as autobiographical, expressing the author's feelings of isolation and inner torment. Poet Daniel Hoffman believed "Alone" was evidence that "Poe really was a haunted man". The poem, however, is an introspective about Poe's youth, written when he
468-475: A forced rhyme" for "o'er me" and "before me" in the previous lines. Aldous Huxley made the same observation, calling the rhyme "ludicrous" and "horribly vulgar". The poem is one of the few works by Poe to be written in the voice of a woman. See also the humorous tale " A Predicament ". In its first publication in 1831, "The City in the Sea" was published as "The Doomed City" before being renamed in 1845. It presents
546-508: A form of constrained writing , an acrostic can be used as a mnemonic device to aid memory retrieval. When the last letter of each new line (or other recurring feature) forms a word it is called a telestich ; the combination of an acrostic and a telestich in the same composition is called a double acrostic (e.g. the first-century Latin Sator Square ). Acrostics are common in medieval literature, where they usually serve to highlight
624-626: A modified sonnet form, "An Enigma" was published in March 1848 in the Union Magazine of Literature and Art under its original simple title "Sonnet." Its new title was attached by Rufus Wilmot Griswold . Its lines conceal an anagram with the name Sarah Anna Lewis (also known as "Stella"). Lewis was an amateur poet who met Poe shortly after the death of his wife Virginia while he lived in Fordham, New York . Lewis's husband paid Poe $ 100 to write
702-511: A passage describing the return of the peace-loving king Numa Pompilius to Rome. Odes 4.2, which starts with the word Pindarum '(the poet) Pindar' has next to it the truncated acrostic PIN in a gamma formation. In the first poem of Horace's Epodes (which were also known as Iambi 'iambics'), the first two lines begin ibis ... amice , and it has been suggested that these words were deliberately chosen so that their initial letters IBI ... AM could be rearranged to read IAMBI. Towards
780-524: A personified Death sitting on the throne of a "strange city." "The Coliseum" explores Rome as a past glory that still exists in imagination. Poe submitted the poem to a contest sponsored by the Baltimore Saturday Visiter , which offered a prize of $ 25 to the winner. The judges chose a poem submitted by editor John Hill Hewitt under the pseudonym "Henry Wilton". Poe was outraged by what he considered nepotism; Hewitt later claimed that
858-437: A place beyond time and space and decides to stay there. This place is odd yet majestic, with "mountains toppling evermore into seas without a shore". Even so, it is a "peaceful, soothing region" and is a hidden treasure like El Dorado . Poe biographer Arthur Hobson Quinn called it "one of [Poe's] finest creations", with each phrase contributing to one effect: a human traveler wandering between life and death. The eighth line of
SECTION 10
#1732782552841936-460: A pseudo-Sibylline prophecy has recently been noticed in the syllables DE CA TE (i.e. Greek δεκάτη ' tenth ' ) in Eclogue 4 , 9–11, with the same DEC A TE repeated cryptically both forwards and backwards in line 11. In another pseudo-Sibylline prophecy in poem 5 of Tibullus book 2 the words AVDI ME ‘hear me!’ are picked out in the first letters of alternate lines at the beginning of
1014-507: A repeating pattern ( equidistant letter sequences ), or even concealing the message by starting at the end of the text and working backwards. A well-known acrostic in Greek is for the phrase JESUS CHRIST, GOD’S SON, SAVIOUR , the initial letters of which spell ΙΧΘΥΣ ( ICHTHYS ), which means fish : According to Cicero , acrostics were a regular feature of Sibylline prophecies (which were written in Greek hexameters . The type of acrostic
1092-619: A review of Sarah's work. That review appeared in the September 1848 issue of the Southern Literary Messenger . Marie Louise Shew (Virginia's one-time volunteer nurse, of sorts) later said that Poe called Lewis a "fat, gaudily-dressed woman." Poe's biographer, Arthur Hobson Quinn, called "An Enigma" "one of Poe's feeblest poems". Printed in the New York Evening Mirror on January 23, 1845, the poem
1170-517: A separate poem in 1843, "The Conqueror Worm" was later incorporated into the text of Poe's short story " Ligeia ". The poem seems to imply that all life is a worthless drama that inevitably leads to death. "Deep in Earth" is a couplet , presumably part of an unfinished poem Poe was writing in 1847. In January of that year, Poe's wife Virginia had died in New York of tuberculosis . It is assumed that
1248-477: A single acrostic psalm together, but the length assigned to each letter is unequal and five of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet are not represented and the sequence of two letters is reversed. In Psalm 25 one Hebrew letter is not represented, the following letter ( Resh ) repeated. In Psalm 34 the current final verse, 23, does fit verse 22 in content, but adds an additional line to the poem. In Psalms 37 and 111
1326-480: A way that the relationship between the key letters is less obvious. These are referred to as null ciphers in steganography, using the first letter of each word to form a hidden message in an otherwise innocuous text. Using letters to hide a message, as in acrostic ciphers, was popular during the Renaissance , and could employ various methods of enciphering, such as selecting other letters than initials based on
1404-463: Is a poem or other word composition in which the first letter (or syllable, or word) of each new line (or paragraph , or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. The term comes from the French acrostiche from post-classical Latin acrostichis , from Koine Greek ἀκροστιχίς , from Ancient Greek ἄκρος "highest, topmost" and στίχος "verse". As
1482-541: Is a 22-line poem originally written in 1829, and left untitled and unpublished during Poe's lifetime. The original manuscript was signed "E. A. Poe" and dated March 17, 1829. In February of that year, Poe's foster mother Frances Allan had died. In September 1875, the poem, which had been in the possession of a family in Baltimore, was published with its title in Scribner's Monthly . The editor, E. L. Didier, also reproduced
1560-503: Is a horses ass. In October 2009, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sent a note to assemblyman Tom Ammiano in which the first letters of lines 3-9 spell "Fuck You"; Schwarzenegger claimed that the acrostic message was coincidental, which mathematicians Stephen Devlin and Philip Stark disputed as statistically implausible. In January 2010, Jonathan I. Schwartz , the CEO of Sun Microsystems , sent an email to Sun employees on
1638-596: Is about a man who overcomes his sadness by marrying the beautiful Eulalie. "Evangeline" was included at the end of Poe's 1848 essay "The Rationale of Verse." It was first published in the November 1848 issue of the Southern Literary Messenger . This lyric poem by Poe was first collected in Tamerlane and Other Poems early in Poe's career in 1827. In the poem, a stargazer thinks all the stars he sees look cold, except for one "Proud Evening Star" which looks warm with
SECTION 20
#17327825528411716-592: Is found first backwards at 103–107, then forwards at 142–146, at the beginning and end of a speech by Sinon persuading the Trojans to bring the wooden horse into the city. The discoverer of this acrostic, Neil Adkin, points out that the same word πείθει occurs at more or less exactly the same line-numbers in a repeated line describing how Odysseus’ wife Penelope deceived the suitors in Odyssey 2.106 and 24.141. Another transliterated Greek word used as an acrostic in
1794-468: Is generally accepted as being written by Poe, though it was published anonymously. The title neglected to capitalize "street." The humorous poem of four rhyming couplets tells savvy people interested in gaining wealth to avoid investments and banks . Instead, it suggests, fold your money in half, thereby doubling it. "Eulalie" was first published in 1845 in American Review: A Whig Journal and
1872-855: Is in the published version and is included in a cross-stitch sampler of the poem from 1793. ) Behold, O God! In rivers of my tears I come to thee! bow down thy blessed ears To hear my Plaint; and let thine eyes which keep Continual watch behold a Sinner weep: Let not, O God my God my Sins, tho' great, And numberless, between thy Mercy's-Seat And my poor Soul have place; since we are taught, [Thou] Lord, remember'st thyne, if Thou art sought. I come not, Lord, with any other merit Than what I by my Saviour Christ inherit: Be then his wounds my balm— his stripes my Bliss; His thorns my crown; my death be blest in his. And thou, my blest Redeemer, Saviour, God, Quit my accounts, withhold thy vengeful rod! O beg for me, my hopes on Thee are set; And Christ forgive me, since thou'st paid my debt The living font,
1950-414: Is limited in his own "music". Poe's friend Thomas Holley Chivers said "Israfil" comes the closest to matching Poe's ideal of the art of poetry. "Israfel" varies in meter; however, it contains mostly iambic feet, complemented by end rhyme in which several of the lines in each stanza rhyme together. Poe also uses frequent alliteration within each line in any given stanza. Acrostic An acrostic
2028-405: Is that known as a “gamma acrostic” (from the shape of the Greek letter Γ ), where the same words are found both horizontally and vertically. Cicero refers to an acrostic in this passage using the Greek word ἀκροστιχίς . The 3rd-century BC didactic poet Aratus , who was much admired and imitated by Cicero, Virgil and other Latin writers, appears to have been fond of using acrostics. One example
2106-632: Is the famous passage in Phaenomena 783–7 where the word λεπτή ' slender, subtle ' occurs as a gamma acrostic and also twice in the text, as well as diagonally in the text and even cryptically taking the initial letters of certain words in lines 2 and 1: Several acrostics have recently been discovered in Roman poets, especially in Virgil . Among others, in Eclogue 9 the acrostic VNDIS ' in
2184-559: Is the long Psalm 119 , which typically is printed in subsections named after the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet , each section consisting of 8 verses, each of which begins with the same letter of the alphabet and the entire psalm consisting of 22 x 8 = 176 verses; and Psalm 145 , which is recited three times a day in the Jewish services . Some acrostic psalms are technically imperfect. For example, Psalm 9 and Psalm 10 appear to constitute
2262-523: Is the most certain author ' , the double-letter reverse acrostic MA VE PV (i.e. Publius Vergilius Maro) is found on alternate lines. In Eclogue 6 , 13–24 Virgil uses a double acrostic, with the same word LAESIS ' for those who have been harmed ' going both upwards and downwards starting from the same letter L in line 19. Another double acrostic is found in Aeneid 2 , where the word PITHI (i.e. πείθει , Greek for he ‘persuades’ or ‘he deceives’)
2340-626: The Right Ginza , a Mandaic text , are acrostic hymns, with each stanza ordered according to a letter of the Mandaic alphabet . There is an acrostic secreted in the Dutch national anthem Wilhelmus ( William ): the first letters of its fifteen stanzas spell WILLEM VAN NASSOV. This was one of the hereditary titles of William of Orange ( William the Silent ), who introduces himself in the poem to
2418-622: The Southern Literary Messenger . It was later published as a stand-alone poem as "A Catholic Hymn" in the August 16, 1845 issue of the Broadway Journal . The poem addresses the Mother of God , thanking her for hearing her prayers and pleading for a bright future. When it was included in the collection The Raven and Other Poems it was lumped into one large stanza. In a copy of that collection he sent to Sarah Helen Whitman, Poe crossed out
Poems by Edgar Allan Poe - Misplaced Pages Continue
2496-538: The Septuagint . Some, like O Palmer Robertson, see the acrostic Psalms of book 1 and book 5 of Psalms as teaching and memory devices as well as transitions between subjects in the structure of the Psalms. Often the ease of detectability of an acrostic can depend on the intention of its creator. In some cases an author may desire an acrostic to have a better chance of being perceived by an observant reader, such as
2574-575: The Unite the Right rally incident in Charlottesville, Virginia. The members' letter of resignation contained the acrostic "RESIST" formed from the first letter of each paragraph. On 23 August 2017, University of California, Berkeley energy professor Daniel Kammen resigned from his position as a State Department science envoy with a resignation letter in which the word "IMPEACH" was spelled out by
2652-615: The nightingale S weetly as ever tunes her Daulian strain. A nd over Tenedos the flagship burns. H ow shall men loiter when the great moon shines O paque upon the sail, and Argive seas R ear like blue dolphins their cerulean curves? S amos is fallen, Lesbos streams with fire, E tna in rage, Canopus cold in hate, S ummon the Orphic bard to stranger dreams. A nd so for us who raise Athene 's torch. S ufficient to her message in this hour: S ons of Columbia , awake, arise! Acrostic : Nicholas Murray Butler
2730-547: The Dutch people. This title also returned in the 2010 speech from the throne , during the Dutch State Opening of Parliament , whose first 15 lines also formed WILLEM VAN NASSOV. Vladimir Nabokov 's short story " The Vane Sisters " is known for its acrostic final paragraph, which contains a message from beyond the grave. In 1829, Edgar Allan Poe wrote an acrostic and simply titled it An Acrostic , possibly dedicated to her cousin Elizabeth Rebecca Herring (though
2808-465: The Happiest Hour", is a six-quatrain poem. It was first published as part of Poe's first collection Tamerlane and Other Poems in 1827. Poe may have written it while serving in the army. The poem discusses a self-pitying loss of youth, though it was written when Poe was about 19. A nearly identical poem called "Original" written by Poe's brother William Henry Leonard Poe was first published in
2886-605: The Life, the Way, I know, And but to thee, O whither shall I go? All other helps are vain: grant thine to me, For in thy cross my saving health I see. O hearken then, that I with faith implore, Lest Sin and Death sink me to rise no more. Lastly, O God, my course direct and guide, In Death defend me, that I never slide; And at Doomsday let me be rais'd again, To live with thee sweet Jesus say, Amen. Baltimore Saturday Visiter Too Many Requests If you report this error to
2964-559: The September 15, 1827 issue of the North American . It is believed Poe wrote the poem and sent it to his brother, who then sent it to the magazine. T. O. Mabbott felt that the rather tepid value of this slightly edited version of the poem suggests that they were made by William Henry, though perhaps with Edgar's approval. This 16-line poem was sung by the title character in Poe's short story Morella , first published in April 1835 in
3042-478: The acrostic contained in the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (where the key capital letters are decorated with ornate embellishments). However, acrostics may also be used as a form of steganography , where the author seeks to conceal the message rather than proclaim it. This might be achieved by making the key letters uniform in appearance with the surrounding text, or by aligning the words in such
3120-489: The acrostics are the same as far as they go, the published text is missing the last four lines, truncating the acrostics to "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kin", "O God, my God, why hast thou forsak", and "If thou art the Christ, save thyself". The manuscript text is printed below, first as normal poetry, then spaced and bolded to bring out the acrostics. The word "Thou" in line 8 is not visible in this photograph, but
3198-464: The completion of the acquisition of Sun by Oracle Corporation . The initial letters of the first seven paragraphs spelled "Beat IBM ". James May , former presenter on the BBC program Top Gear , was fired from the publication Autocar for spelling out a message using the large red initial at the beginning of each review in the publication's Road Test Yearbook Issue for 1992. Properly punctuated,
Poems by Edgar Allan Poe - Misplaced Pages Continue
3276-629: The end of the 2nd century AD a verse-summary of the plot was added to each of the plays of Plautus . Each of these has an acrostic of the name of the play, for example: The 3rd century AD poet Commodian wrote a series of 80 short poems on Christian themes called Instructiones . Each of these is fully acrostic (with the exception of poem 60, where the initial letters are in alphabetical order), starting with PRAEFATIO ‘preface’ and INDIGNATIO DEI ‘the wrath of God’. The initials of poem 80, read backwards, give COMMODIANUS MENDICUS CHRISTI ‘Commodian, Christ’s beggar’. Chapters 2–5 of Book 12 in
3354-443: The first letters of each paragraph. In the video game Zork the first letters of sentences in a prayer spelled " Odysseus " which was a possible solution to a Cyclops encounter in another room. On 4 May 2024, Noelia Voigt resigned as Miss USA 2023 with a resignation letter containing an acrostic spelling out "I am silenced". A double acrostic , may have words at the beginning and end of its lines, as in this example, on
3432-457: The golden day R emember now no more the fading gold, A straea fled, Proserpina in hell ; Y ou searchers of the earth be reconciled! B ecause, through all the blight of human woe, U nder Robigo 's rust, and Clotho 's shears, T he mind of man still keeps its argosies, L acedaemonian Helen wakes her tower, E cho replies, and lamentation loud R everberates from Thrace to Delos Isle; I tylus grieves, for whom
3510-399: The initials L.E.L. refer to Letitia Elizabeth Landon ): E lizabeth it is in vain you say " L ove not" — thou sayest it in so sweet a way: I n vain those words from thee or L.E.L. Z antippe's talents had enforced so well: A h! if that language from thy heart arise, B reath it less gently forth — and veil thine eyes. E ndymion, recollect, when Luna tried T o cure his love —
3588-540: The invitation of the Lowell couple, while lecturing in Lowell. It was here that the relationship developed. He even wrote to her of purchasing a "cottage" in Westford just to be closer to her and her family. The poem was first set to be published on April 28, 1849 in the journal Flag of our Union , which Poe said was a "paper for which sheer necessity compels me to write." Fearing its publication there would consign it "to
3666-617: The letters of the alphabet in order; such an acrostic may be called an 'alphabetical acrostic' or abecedarius . These acrostics occur in the first four of the five chapters that make up the Book of Lamentations , in the praise of the good wife in Proverbs 31 :10-31 , and in Psalms 9-10, 25 , 34 , 37 , 111 , 112 , 119 and 145 of the Hebrew Bible . Notable among the acrostic Psalms
3744-481: The lines 'For Annie' (those I now send) much the best I have ever written." Nancy Richmond would officially change her name to Annie after her husband's death in 1873. A large Granite Marker was erected for Poe at the historic Heywood home in Westford, Massachusetts , where he stayed. Annie L. Richmond is buried in a Lowell, Massachusetts , cemetery with her husband Charles. "The Happiest Day", or "The Happiest Day,
3822-509: The message reads: "So you think it's really good, yeah? You should try making the bloody thing up; it's a real pain in the arse." In the 2012 third novel of his Caged Flower series, author Cullman Wallace used acrostics as a plot device. The parents of a protagonist send e-mails where the first letters of the lines reveal their situation in a concealed message. On 19 August 2017, the members of president Donald Trump 's Committee on Arts and Humanities resigned in protest over his response to
3900-483: The middle cross stands for Iēsus Nazarēnus , Rēx Iūdaeōrum , Latin for "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" ( John 19:19 ). The three quotes represent the three figures crucified on Golgotha, as recorded in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. (The text of the manuscript shown differs significantly from the text usually published, including in the reference. Many of the lines have somewhat different wording; and while
3978-463: The name of Stroud , by Paul Hansford: The first letters make up the acrostic and the last letters the telestich; in this case they are identical. Another example of a double acrostic is the first-century Latin Sator Square . As well as being a double acrostic, the square contains several palindromes , and it can be read as a 25-letter palindromic sentence (of an obscure meaning). The poem Behold, O God! , by William Browne, can be considered
SECTION 50
#17327825528414056-553: The name of the poet or his patron, or to make a prayer to a saint. They are most frequent in verse works but can also appear in prose. The Middle High German poet Rudolf von Ems for example opens all his great works with an acrostic of his name, and his world chronicle marks the beginning of each age with an acrostic of the key figure (Moses, David, etc.). In chronicles, acrostics are common in German and English but rare in other languages. Relatively simple acrostics may merely spell out
4134-480: The numbering of verses and the division into lines are interfering with each other; as a result in Psalm 37, for the letters Daleth and Kaph there is only one verse, and the letter Ayin is not represented. Psalm 111 and 112 have 22 lines, but 10 verses. Psalm 145 does not represent the letter Nun , having 21 one verses, but one Qumran manuscript of this Psalm does have that missing line, which agrees with
4212-582: The piece. First published simply as "Ballad" in the January 1837 edition of the Southern Literary Messenger , it was later retitled as "Bridal Ballad" when it was printed in the July 31, 1841 edition of the Saturday Evening Post . The poem is unusual for Poe because it is written in the voice of a woman, specifically a recently married bride . Despite her reassurances that she is "happy,"
4290-408: The poem " A Dream Within a Dream ". Kate Carol was a pseudonym for Frances Sargent Osgood , a woman with whom Poe exchanged love notes published in journals. Poe was married at the time, yet his friendship with Osgood was very public. This four-line poem, written with an almost juvenile tone, compares the woman's beautiful thoughts with her beautiful eyes . The poem, which consists of four lines,
4368-433: The poem and others by Poe as "nonsense". He did, however, admit that the work showed great promise in the author. His introduction read, "If E. A. P. of Baltimore — whose lines about 'Heaven,' though he professes to regard them as altogether superior to any thing in the whole range of American poetry, save two or three trifles referred to, are, though nonsense, rather exquisite nonsense — would but do himself justice, might make
4446-469: The poem has a somber tone as it recounts a previous love who has died. In marrying, she has broken her vow to this previous lover to love him eternally. Poe biographer Daniel Hoffman says that "Bridal Ballad" is guilty of "one of the most unfortunate rhymes in American poetry this side of Thomas Holley Chivers ". He is referring to the name of the bride's dead lover, "D'Elormie", which he calls "patently
4524-445: The poem is typically pushed slightly to the left of the other lines' indentation. A short poem referencing the mythical El Dorado . A traveler asks a "shade" where to find the legendary city of gold and is told to "ride, boldly ride." Believed to have been written in 1829, "Elizabeth" was never published in Poe's lifetime. It was written for his Baltimore cousin, Elizabeth Rebecca Herring. Poe also wrote "An Acrostic" to her as well as
4602-448: The poem laments the death of a young love. It was originally signed only as "TAMERLANE." "For Annie" was written for Nancy L. (Heywood) Richmond (whom Poe called Annie) of Westford, Massachusetts . Richmond was married to Charles B. Richmond of Lowell, Massachusetts , and Poe developed a strong platonic , though complicated, relationship with her. It was at Nancy's (Heywood) family farm in Westford, Massachusetts that Poe would stay, at
4680-491: The poem that would become " To F——s S. O——d ." First printed in the February 2, 1833, issue of the Baltimore Saturday Visiter , "Enigma" is a riddle that hints at 11 authors. Line two, for example, references Homer and the ninth refers to Alexander Pope . It was signed only with "P.", though Thomas Ollive Mabbott attributed the poem to Poe – and solved the riddles. See the page on eapoe.org for more. A riddle poem in
4758-440: The poem was inspired by her death. It is difficult to discern, however, if Poe had intended the completed poem to be published or if it was personal. Poe scribbled the couplet onto a manuscript copy of his poem " Eulalie ". That poem seems autobiographical, referring to his joy upon marriage. The significance of the couplet implies that he has gone back into a state of loneliness similar to before his marriage. It has been found that
SECTION 60
#17327825528414836-467: The poem's signature of "P." as evidence. "A Dream" is a lyric poem that first appeared without a title in Tamerlane and Other Poems in 1827. The narrator's "dream of joy departed" causes him to compare and contrast dream and "broken-hearted" reality. Its title was attached when it was published in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems in 1829. "A Dream Within a Dream" was first published in 1849,
4914-575: The prophecy. Virgil’s friend Horace also made occasional use of acrostics, but apparently much less than Virgil. Examples are DISCE ‘learn!’ ( Odes 1.18.11–15) (forming a gamma acrostic with the word discernunt ' they discern ' in line 18) and OTIA ' leisure ' in Satires 1.2.7–10, which appears just after Horace has been advised to take a rest from writing satire. The acrostic OTIA also occurs in Ovid , Metamorphoses 15.478–81,
4992-541: The second line of Poe's couplet was adapted from "Zarifa", a poem by Frances Osgood . "The Divine Right of Kings" is attributed to Edgar Allan Poe , though not fully proven. It appeared in Graham's Magazine in October 1845. The "King" of the title is Ellen King, possibly representing Frances Sargent Osgood , to whom the writer pledges his devotion. It was first identified as Poe's in an article on November 21, 1915, using
5070-511: The third line may be Letitia Elizabeth Landon , an English artist known for signing her work with those initials. "Zantippe" in line four is actually Xanthippe , wife of Socrates . The spelling of the name was changed to fit the acrostic. This poem is based on stories from the Quran , and tells of the afterlife in the place called Al Aaraaf. Poe included it as the major poem in his 1829 collection Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems . " Alone "
5148-557: The tomb of the Capulets," he sent it to Nathaniel Parker Willis for publication in the Home Journal on the same day as Flag of Our Union . The poem talks about an illness from which Richmond helped Poe recover. It speaks about "the fever called 'Living'" that has been conquered, ending his "moaning and groaning" and his "sighing and sobbing." In a letter dated March 23, 1849, Poe sent the poem he wrote to Richmond saying, "I think
5226-453: The two had a fistfight in the streets of Baltimore, though no evidence proves the event. Despite the controversy, "The Coliseum" was published by the Visiter in its October 26, 1833, issue. It was later incorporated into Poe's unfinished drama Politian . In a July 1844 letter to fellow author James Russell Lowell , Poe put "The Coliseum" as one of his six best poems. First published as
5304-419: The waves ' (lines 34–38) immediately precedes the words quis est nam ludus in undis? ' for what is your game in the waves?' ' , and DEA DIO (i.e. dea Dione ' the goddess Dione ' ) (lines 46–51) in a passage which mentions the goddess Dione (another name for Venus ). In Eclogue 8 , alongside a passage dedicating the poem to an unnamed person and asking him to accept it, Neil Adkin reads
5382-455: The womb again, I onians bright and fair, to the chill stone; C haos in cry, Actaeon 's angry pack, H ounds of Molossus , shaggy wolves driven O ver Ampsanctus ' vale and Pentheus ' glade, L aelaps and Ladon , Dromas, Canace , A s these in fury harry brake and hill S o the great dogs of evil bay the world. M emory, Mother of Muses , be resigned U ntil King Saturn comes to rule again! R emember now no more
5460-593: The word "Catholic." Choral composer Jonathan Adams included "Hymn" as part of his Three Songs from Edgar Allan Poe written for chorus and piano in 1993. The poem "Imitation" was first published in Poe's early collection Tamerlane and Other Poems . The 20-line poem is made up of rhymed couplets where the speaker likens his youth to a dream as his reality becomes more and more difficult. It has been considered potentially autobiographical, written during deepening strains in Poe's relationship with his foster-father John Allan. After several revisions, this poem evolved into
5538-483: The words TV SI ES ACI (i.e. accipe ) ( ' if you are the one, accept! ' ). In Aeneid 7.601–4, a passage which mentions Mars and war, describing the custom of opening the gates of the Temple of Janus , the name MARS (the god of war) appears in acrostic form as well as in the text as follows: In Georgics 1 429–433, next to a passage which contains the words namque is certissimus auctor ' for he
5616-464: The year of Poe's death, and asks if all life is really a dream. First published in the June 1844 issue of Graham's Magazine , "Dream-Land" (also called "Dreamland") was the only poem Poe published that year. It was quickly republished in a June 1845 edition of the Broadway Journal . This lyric poem consists of five stanzas, with the first and last being nearly identical. The dream-voyager arrives in
5694-519: Was cured of all beside — H is folly — pride — and passion — for he died. In 1939 Rolfe Humphries received a lifelong ban from contributing to Poetry magazine after he penned and attempted to publish "a poem containing a concealed scurrilous phrase aimed at a well-known person", namely Nicholas Murray Butler . The poem, entitled "An ode for a Phi Beta Kappa affair", was in unrhymed iambic pentameter , contained one classical reference per line, and ran as follows: N iobe 's daughters yearn to
5772-517: Was first published in April 1831 in Poems of Edgar A. Poe . It was re-worked and republished for the August 1836 issue of the Southern Literary Messenger . In an introduction to the poem, Poe says that Israfel is described in the Quran as an angel whose heart is a lute and who has "the sweetest voice of all God's creatures." His song quiets the stars, the poem says, while the Earth-bound poet
5850-410: Was only 20 years old. The last complete poem written by Poe, it was published shortly after his death in 1849. The speaker of the poem talks about a lost love, Annabel Lee, and may have been based on Poe's own relationship with his wife Virginia , though that is disputed. First published after Poe's death, "The Bells" is a heavily onomatopoeic poem known for its repetition. "The Beloved Physician"
5928-566: Was published in the Broadway Journal on April 26, 1845. It was unsigned but Poe biographer and critic T. O. Mabbott assigns it as Poe's without hesitation. Osgood copied the poem and gave it to her friend Elizabeth Oakes Smith with the title "To the Sinless Child." This copy is now preserved in the library of the University of Virginia . Written while Poe was at West Point, "Israfel" is a poem in eight stanzas of varying lengths that
6006-501: Was written around April 1847 for Mary-Louise Shew , a nurse who also inspired Poe's more famous poem, " The Bells ". The poem was originally ten stanzas long, although a version with nine stanzas was supposedly prepared by Poe for publication [1] . It was never printed during his lifetime, and it now appears to be lost. Shew was able to recall about a tenth of a poem in a letter to editor John W. Ingham in 1875; these fragments were published in 1909, and appear to be all that remains of
6084-590: Was written while Poe was at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Poe first offered the poem to Nathaniel Parker Willis , who wrote in an edition of "The Editor's Table" of the American Monthly of how he threw the submission into the fire and joyfully watched it burn. Nonetheless, it was soon published in the September 1829 issue of The Yankee and Boston Literary Gazette . The journal's editor John Neal introduced
#840159