Endnotes
The earliest version of вАЬTamerlaneвАЭ was included in the suppressed volume of 1827, but differs very considerably from the poem as now published. The present draft, besides innumerable verbal alterations and improvements upon the original, is more carefully punctuated, and, the lines being indented, presents a more pleasing appearance, to the eye at least. вЖ©
In climes of mine imagining apart? вАФвБ†Ed. вЖ©
Query вАЬfervorвАЭ? вАФвБ†Ed. вЖ©
It was a saying of this philosopher вАЬthat oneвАЩs own name should never appear in oneвАЩs own book.вАЭ вЖ©
A star was discovered by Tycho Brahe which appeared suddenly in the heavens attained, in a few days, a brilliancy surpassing that of JupiterвБ†вАФthen as suddenly disappeared, and has never been seen since.
вАЬAl AaraafвАЭ first appeared, with the sonnet вАЬTo SilenceвАЭ prefixed to it, in 1829, and is, substantially, as originally issued. In the edition for 1831, however, this poem, its authorвАЩs longest, was introduced by the following twenty-nine lines, which have been omitted inвБ†вАФall subsequent collections:
Mysterious star!
Thou wert my dream
All a long summer nightвБ†вАФ
Be now my theme!
By this clear stream,
Of thee will I write;
Meantime from afar
Bathe me in light!
Thy world has not the dross of ours,
Yet all the beautyвБ†вАФall the flowers
That list our love or deck our bowers
In dreamy gardens, where do lie
Dreamy maidens all the day;
While the silver winds of Circassy
On violet couches faint away.
LittleвБ†вАФoh! little dwells in thee
Like unto what on earth we see:
BeautyвАЩs eye is here the bluest
In the falsest and untruestвБ†вАФ
On the sweetest air doth float
The most sad and solemn noteвБ†вАФ
If with thee be broken hearts,
Joy so peacefully departs,
That its echo still doth dwell,
Like the murmur in the shell.
Thou! thy truest type of grief
Is the gently falling leafвБ†вАФ
Thou! thy framing is so holy
Sorrow is not melancholy.
вЖ©
On Santa MauraвБ†вАФolim Deucadia. вЖ©
Sappho. вЖ©
This flower is much noticed by Lewenhoeck and Tournefort. The bee, feeding upon its blossom, becomes intoxicated. вЖ©
ClytiaвБ†вАФThe Chrysanthemum Peruvianum, or, to employ a better-known term, the turnsolвБ†вАФwhich continually turns towards the sun, covers itself, like Peru, the country from which it comes, with dewy clouds which cool and refresh its flowers during the most violent heat of the day. вАФвБ†B. de St.¬†Pierre вЖ©
There is cultivated in the kingвАЩs garden at Paris, a species of serpentine aloes without prickles, whose large and beautiful flower exhales a strong odor of the vanilla, during the time of its expansion, which is very short. It does not blow till towards the month of JulyвБ†вАФyou then perceive it gradually open its petalsвБ†вАФexpand themвБ†вАФfade and die. вАФвБ†St.¬†Pierre вЖ©
There is found, in the Rhone, a beautiful lily of the Valisnerian kind. Its stem will stretch to the length of three or four feetвБ†вАФthus preserving its head above water in the swellings of the river. вЖ©
The Hyacinth. вЖ©
It is a fiction of the Indians, that Cupid was first seen floating in one of these down the river GangesвБ†вАФand that he still loves the cradle of his childhood. вЖ©
And golden vials full of odors which are the prayers of the saints. вАФвБ†Rev. St.¬†John вЖ©
The Humanitarians held that God was to be understood as having a really human form. вАФвБ†Vide ClarkeвАЩs Sermons, vol. 1, page 26, fol. edit.
The drift of MiltonвАЩs argument leads him to employ language which would appear, at first sight, to verge upon their doctrine; but it will be seen immediately, that he guards himself against the charge of having adopted one of the most ignorant errors of the dark ages of the church. вАФвБ†Dr.¬†SumnerвАЩs Notes on MiltonвАЩs Christian Doctrine
This opinion, in spite of many testimonies to the contrary, could never have been very general. Andeus, a Syrian of Mesopotamia, was condemned for the opinion, as heretical. He lived in the beginning of the fourth century. His disciples were called Anthropmorphites. вАФвБ†Vide Du Pin
Among MiltonвАЩs minor poems are these lines:вБ†вАФ
Dicite sacrorum præsides nemorum Deæ, etc.
Quis ille primus cujus ex imagine
Natura solers finxit humanum genus?
Eternus, incorruptus, æquævus polo,
Unusque et universus exemplar Dei.
And afterwards,
Non cui profundum Cæcitas lumen dedit
Dircæus augur vidit hunc alto sinu, etc.
вЖ©
Seltsamen Tochter Jovis
Seinem Schosskinde
Der Phantasie.
вАФвБ†G√ґethe
вЖ©
SightlessвБ†вАФtoo small to be seen. вАФвБ†Legge вЖ©
I have often noticed a peculiar movement of the fireflies;вБ†вАФthey will collect in a body and fly off, from a common centre, into innumerable radii. вЖ©
Therasaea, or Therasea, the island mentioned by Seneca, which, in a moment, arose from the sea to the eyes of astonished mariners. вЖ©
Some star which, from the ruinвАЩd roof
Of shakвАЩd Olympus, by mischance did fall.
вАФвБ†Milton.
вЖ©
Voltaire, in speaking of Persepolis, says, вАЬJe connois bien lвАЩadmiration quвАЩ inspirent ces ruinesвБ†вАФmais un palais √©rig√© au pied dвАЩune chaine des rochers sterilesвБ†вАФpeut-il √™tre un chef dвАЩ≈Уuvre des arts!вАЭ вЖ©
вАЬOh, the waveвАЭвБ†вАФUla Deguisi is the Turkish appellation; but, on its own shores, it is called Bahar Loth, or Almotanah. There were undoubtedly more than two cities engulfed in the вАЬdead sea.вАЭ In the valley of Siddim were fiveвБ†вАФAdrah, Zeboin, Zoar, Sodom and Gomorrah. Stephen of Byzantium mentions eight, and Strabo thirteeen (engulfed)вБ†вАФbut the last is out of all reason.
It is said, (Tacitus, Strabo, Josephus, Daniel of St.¬†Saba, Nau, Maundrell, Troilo, DвАЩArvieux) that after an excessive drought, the vestiges of columns, walls, etc. are seen above the surface. At any season, such remains may be discovered by looking down into the transparent lake, and at such distances as would argue the existence of many settlements in the space now usurped by the вАЬAsphaltites.вАЭ вЖ©
EyracoвБ†вАФChaldea. вЖ©
I have often thought I could distinctly hear the sound of the darkness as it stole over the horizon. вЖ©
Fairies use flowers for their charactery. вАФвБ†Merry Wives of Windsor вЖ©
In Scripture is this passageвБ†вАФвАЬThe sun shall not harm thee by day, nor the moon by night.вАЭ It is perhaps not generally known that the moon, in Egypt, has the effect of producing blindness to those who sleep with the face exposed to its rays, to which circumstance the passage evidently alludes. вЖ©
The Albatross is said to sleep on the wing. вЖ©
I met with this idea in an old English tale, which I am now unable to obtain and quote from memory:вБ†вАФвАЬThe verie essence and, as it were, springe heade and origine of all musiche is the verie pleasaunte sounde which the trees of the forest do make when they growe.вАЭ вЖ©
The wild bee will not sleep in the shade if there be moonlight.
The rhyme in this verse, as in one about sixty lines before, has an appearance of affectation. It is, however, imitated from Sir W. Scott, or rather from Claud HalcroвБ†вАФin whose mouth I admired its effect:
O! were there an island,
ThoвАЩ ever so wild
Where woman might smile, and
No man be beguilвАЩd, etc.
вЖ©
With the Arabians there is a medium between Heaven and Hell, where men suffer no punishment, but yet do not attain that tranquil and even happiness which they suppose to be characteristic of heavenly enjoyment.
Un no rompido suenoвБ†вАФ
Un dia puroвБ†вАФallegreвБ†вАФlibre
QuieraвБ†вАФ
Libre de amorвБ†вАФde zeloвБ†вАФ
De odioвБ†вАФde esperanzaвБ†вАФde rezelo.
вАФвБ†Luis Ponce de Leon.
Sorrow is not excluded from вАЬAl Aaraaf,вАЭ but it is that sorrow which the living love to cherish for the dead, and which, in some minds, resembles the delirium of opium. The passionate excitement of Love and the buoyancy of spirit attendant upon intoxication are its less holy pleasuresвБ†вАФthe price of which, to those souls who make choice of вАЬAl AaraafвАЭ as their residence after life, is final death and annihilation. вЖ©
There be tears of perfect moan
Wept for thee in Helicon.
вАФвБ†Milton.
вЖ©
It was entire in 1687вБ†вАФthe most elevated spot in Athens. вЖ©
Shadowing more beauty in their airy brows
Than have the white breasts of the queen of love.
вАФвБ†Marlowe.
вЖ©
Pennon, for pinion. вАФвБ†Milton вЖ©
The poem styled вАЬRomance,вАЭ constituted the Preface of the 1829 volume, but with the addition of the following lines:
Succeeding years, too wild for song,
Then rolled like tropic storms along,
Where, through the garish lights that fly
Dying along the troubled sky,
Lay bare, through vistas thunder-riven,
The blackness of the general Heaven,
That very blackness yet doth fling
Light on the lightningвАЩs silver wing.
For being an idle boy lang syne,
Who read Anacreon and drank wine,
I early found Anacreon rhymes
Were almost passionate sometimesвБ†вАФ
And by strange alchemy of brain
His pleasures always turned to painвБ†вАФ
His na√ѓvet√© to wild desireвБ†вАФ
His wit to loveвБ†вАФhis wine to fireвБ†вАФ
And so, being young and dipt in folly,
I fell in love with melancholy,
And used to throw my earthly rest
And quiet all away in jestвБ†вАФ
I could not love except where Death
Was mingling his with BeautyвАЩs breathвБ†вАФ
Or Hymen, Time, and Destiny,
Were stalking between her and me.
вЛЃ
But now my soul hath too much roomвБ†вАФ
Gone are the glory and the gloomвБ†вАФ
The black hath mellowвАЩd into gray,
And all the fires are fading away.
My draught of passion hath been deepвБ†вАФ
I revellвАЩd, and I now would sleepвБ†вАФ
And after drunkenness of soul
Succeeds the glories of the bowlвБ†вАФ
An idle longing night and day
To dream my very life away.
But dreamsвБ†вАФof those who dream as I,
Aspiringly, are damned, and die:
Yet should I swear I mean alone,
By notes so very shrilly blown,
To break upon TimeвАЩs monotone,
While yet my vapid joy and grief
Are tintless of the yellow leafвБ†вАФ
Why not an imp the graybeard hath,
Will shake his shadow in my pathвБ†вАФ
And eвАЩen the graybeard will oвАЩerlook
Connivingly my dreaming-book.
вЖ©
And the angel Israfel, whose heartstrings are a lute, and who has the sweetest voice of all GodвАЩs creatures.
вАФвБ†Koran.
вЖ©
вАЬTo HelenвАЭ first appeared in the 1831 volume, as did also вАЬThe Valley of UnrestвАЭ (as вАЬThe Valley NisвАЭ), вАЬIsrafel,вАЭ and one or two others of the youthful pieces. вЖ©
вАЬThe RavenвАЭ was first published on the 29th January, 1845, in the New York Evening MirrorвБ†вАФa paper its author was then assistant editor of. It was prefaced by the following words, understood to have been written by N. P. Willis: вАЬWe are permitted to copy (in advance of publication) from the second number of the American Review, the following remarkable poem by Edgar Poe. In our opinion, it is the most effective single example of вАШfugitive poetryвАЩ ever published in this country, and unsurpassed in English poetry for subtle conception, masterly ingenuity of versification, and consistent sustaining of imaginative lift and вАШpokerishness.вАЩ It is one of those вАШdainties bred in a bookвАЩ which we feed on. It will stick to the memory of everybody who reads it.вАЭ In the February number of the American Review the poem was published as by вАЬQuarles,вАЭ and it was introduced by the following note, evidently suggested if not written by Poe himself.
вАЬThe following lines from a correspondentвБ†вАФbesides the deep, quaint strain of the sentiment, and the curious introduction of some ludicrous touches amidst the serious and impressive, as was doubtless intended by the authorвБ†вАФappears to us one of the most felicitous specimens of unique rhyming which has for some time met our eye. The resources of English rhythm for varieties of melody, measure, and sound, producing corresponding diversities of effect, having been thoroughly studied, much more perceived, by very few poets in the language. While the classic tongues, especially the Greek, possess, by power of accent, several advantages for versification over our own, chiefly through greater abundance of spondaic feet, we have other and very great advantages of sound by the modern usage of rhyme. Alliteration is nearly the only effect of that kind which the ancients had in common with us. It will be seen that much of the melody of вАШThe RavenвАЩ arises from alliteration, and the studious use of similar sounds in unusual places. In regard to its measure, it may be noted that if all the verses were like the second, they might properly be placed merely in short lines, producing a not uncommon form; but the presence in all the others of one lineвБ†вАФmostly the second in the verseвАЭ (stanza?)вБ†вАФвАЬwhich flows continuously, with only an aspirate pause in the middle, like that before the short line in the Sapphic Adonic, while the fifth has at the middle pause no similarity of sound with any part besides, gives the versification an entirely different effect. We could wish the capacities of our noble language in prosody were better understood.вАЭ
вАФвБ†Ed. Am. Rev.
вЖ©
вАЬTo FвБ†вЄЇвБ†вАЭ (Frances Sargeant Osgood) appeared in the Broadway Journal for April, 1845. These lines are but slightly varied from those inscribed вАЬTo Mary,вАЭ in the Southern Literary Messenger for July, 1835, and subsequently republished, with the two stanzas transposed, in GrahamвАЩs Magazine for March, 1842, as вАЬTo One Departed.вАЭ вЖ©
вАЬA Valentine,вАЭ one of three poems addressed to Mrs.¬†Osgood, appears to have been written early in 1846.
To discover the names in this poem read the first letter of the first line in connection with the second letter of the second line, the third letter of the third line, the fourth of the fourth and so on to the end. вЖ©
This poem was first published in ColtonвАЩs American Review for December, 1847, as вАЬTo вЄї вЄї. Ulalume: A Ballad.вАЭ Being reprinted immediately in the Home Journal, it was copied into various publications with the name of the editor, N. P. Willis, appended, and was ascribed to him. When first published, it contained the following additional stanza which Poe subsequently, at the suggestion of Mrs.¬†Whitman, wisely suppressed:
Said we thenвБ†вАФwe two, thenвБ†вАФвАЬAh, can it
Have been that the woodlandish ghoulsвБ†вАФ
The pitiful, the merciful ghoulsвБ†вАФ
To bar up our path and to ban it
From the secret that lies in these woldsвБ†вАФ
Had drawn up the spectre of a planet
From the limbo of lunary soulsвБ†вАФ
This sinfully scintillant planet
From the Hell of the planetary souls?вАЭ
вЖ©
The bibliographical history of вАЬThe BellsвАЭ is curious. The subject, and some lines of the original version, having been suggested by the poetвАЩs friend, Mrs.¬†Shew, Poe, when he wrote out the first draft of the poem, headed it, вАЬThe Bells, By Mrs.¬†M. A. Shew.вАЭ This draft, now the editorвАЩs property, consists of only seventeen lines, and read thus:
The bells!вБ†вАФah, the bells!
The little silver bells!
How fairy-like a melody there floats
From their throatsвБ†вАФ
From their merry little throatsвБ†вАФ
From the silver, tinkling throats
Of the bells, bells, bellsвБ†вАФ
Of the bells!
The bells!вБ†вАФah, the bells!
The heavy iron bells!
How horrible a monody there floats
From their throatsвБ†вАФ
From their deep-toned throatsвБ†вАФ
From their melancholy throats!
How I shudder at the notes
Of the bells, bells, bellsвБ†вАФ
Of the bells!
In the autumn of 1848 Poe added another line to this poem, and sent it to the editor of the Union Magazine. It was not published. So, in the following February, the poet forwarded to the same periodical a much enlarged and altered transcript. Three months having elapsed without publication, another revision of the poem, similar to the current version, was sent, and in the following October was published in the Union Magazine. вЖ©
Although вАЬEldoradoвАЭ was published during PoeвАЩs lifetime, in 1849, in the Flag of Our Union, it does not appear to have ever received the authorвАЩs finishing touches. вЖ©
вАЬAn Enigma,вАЭ addressed to Mrs.¬†Sarah Anna Lewis (вАЬStellaвАЭ), was sent to that lady in a letter, in November, 1847, and the following March appeared in SartainвАЩs Union Magazine.
To discover the names in this poem read the first letter of the first line in connection with the second letter of the second line, the third letter of the third line, the fourth of the fourth and so on to the end. вЖ©
вАЬTo HelenвАЭ (Mrs.¬†S. Helen Whitman) was not published until November, 1848, although written several months earlier. It first appeared in the Union Magazine, and with the omission, contrary to the knowledge or desire of Poe, of the line, вАЬOh, God! oh, HeavenвБ†вАФhow my heart beats in coupling those two words.вАЭ вЖ©
вАЬAnnabel LeeвАЭ was written early in 1849, and is evidently an expression of the poetвАЩs undying love for his deceased bride, although at least one of his lady admirers deemed it a response to her admiration. Poe sent a copy of the ballad to the Union Magazine, in which publication it appeared in January, 1850, three months after the authorвАЩs death. While suffering from вАЬhope deferredвАЭ as to its fate, Poe presented a copy of вАЬAnnabel LeeвАЭ to the editor of the Southern Literary Messenger, who published it in the November number of his periodical, a month after PoeвАЩs death. In the meantime the poetвАЩs own copy, left among his papers, passed into the hands of the person engaged to edit his works, and he quoted the poem in an obituary of Poe, in the New York Tribune, before anyone else had an opportunity of publishing it. вЖ©
вАЬFor AnnieвАЭ was first published in the Flag of Our Union, in the spring of 1849. Poe, annoyed at some misprints in this issue, shortly afterwards caused a corrected copy to be inserted in the Home Journal. вЖ©
The sonnet, вАЬTo My MotherвАЭ (Maria Clemm), was sent for publication to the short-lived Flag of Our Union, early in 1849, but does not appear to have been issued until after its authorвАЩs death, when it appeared in the Leaflets of Memory for 1850.
The poem was addressed to the poetвАЩs mother-in-law, Mrs.¬†Clemm вАФвБ†Ed. вЖ©
вАЬTo FвБ†вЄЇвБ†s S. OвБ†вЄЇвБ†d,вАЭ a portion of the poetвАЩs triune tribute to Mrs.¬†Osgood, was published in the Broadway Journal for September, 1845. The earliest version of these lines appeared in the Southern Literary Messenger for September, 1835, as вАЬLines Written in an Album,вАЭ and was addressed to Eliza White, the proprietorвАЩs daughter. Slightly revised, the poem reappeared in BurtonвАЩs GentlemanвАЩs Magazine for August, 1839, as вАЬTo вЄї.вАЭ вЖ©