Annotated+Poems

Alone **From childhood's hour I have not been** **As others were — I have not seen** **As others saw — I could not bring** **My passions from a common spring —** **From the same source I have not taken** **My sorrow — I could not awaken** **My heart to joy at the same tone —** **And all I lov'd — I lov'd alone —** **//Then// — in my childhood — in the dawn** **Of a most stormy life — was drawn** **From ev'ry depth of good and ill** **The mystery which binds me still —** **From the torrent, or the fountain —** **From the red cliff of the mountain —** **From the sun that 'round me roll'd** **In its autumn tint of gold —** **From the lightning in the sky** **As it pass'd me flying by —** **From the thunder, and the storm —** **And the cloud that took the form** **(When the rest of Heaven was blue)** **Of a demon in my view —**



= Annabel Lee = By Edgar Allan Poe 1809–1849 Edgar Allan Poe It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of Annabel Lee; And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me.

//I// was a child and //she// was a child, In this kingdom by the sea, But we loved with a love that was more than love— I and my Annabel Lee— With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago, In this kingdom by the sea, A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling My beautiful Annabel Lee; So that her highborn kinsmen came And bore her away from me, To shut her up in a sepulchre In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven, Went envying her and me— Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know, In this kingdom by the sea) That the wind came out of the cloud by night, Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love Of those who were older than we— Of many far wiser than we— And neither the angels in Heaven above Nor the demons down under the sea Can ever dissever my soul from the soul Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride, In her sepulchre there by the sea— In her tomb by the sounding sea.

=** Imitation **=
 * A dark unfathomed tide **


 * Of interminable pride - **


 * A mystery, and a dream, **


 * Should my early life seem; **


 * I say that dream was fraught **


 * With a wild and waking thought **


 * Of beings that have been, **


 * Which my spirit hath not seen, **


 * Had I let them pass me by, **


 * With a dreaming eye! **


 * Let none of earth inherit **


 * That vision of my spirit; **


 * Those thoughts I would control, **


 * As a spell upon his soul: **


 * For that bright hope at last **


 * And that light time have past, **


 * And my worldly rest hath gone **


 * With a sigh as it passed on: **


 * I care not though it perish **


 * With a thought I then did cherish. **

Bridal Ballad
The ring is on my hand, And the wreath is on my brow; Satin and jewels grand Are all at my command, And I am happy now. And my lord he loves me well; But, when first he breathed his vow, I felt my bosom swell- For the words rang as a knell, And the voice seemed his who fell In the battle down the dell, And who is happy now. But he spoke to re-assure me, And he kissed my pallid brow, While a reverie came o'er me, And to the church-yard bore me, And I sighed to him before me, Thinking him dead D'Elormie, "Oh, I am happy now!" And thus the words were spoken, And this the plighted vow, And, though my faith be broken, And, though my heart be broken, Here is a ring, as token That I am happy now! Would God I could awaken! For I dream I know not how! And my soul is sorely shaken Lest an evil step be taken,- Lest the dead who is forsaken May not be happy now.

=A Dream= In visions of the dark night I have dreamed of joy departed— But a waking dream of life and light Hath left me broken-hearted. Ah! what is not a dream by day To him whose eyes are cast On things around him with a ray Turned back upon the past? That holy dream—that holy dream, While all the world were chiding, Hath cheered me as a lovely beam A lonely spirit guiding. What though that light, thro' storm and night, So trembled from afar— What could there be more purely bright In Truth's day-star?

=** A Valentine **= = =  **//For her this rhyme is penned, whose luminous eyes,//** = = //B**r**ightly expressive as the twins of Leda,// = = **//Shall find her own sweet name, that nestling lies//** = = **//Upon the page, enwrapped from every reader.//** = = **//Search narrowly the lines! - they hold a treasure//** = = **//Divine - a talisman- an amulet//** = = **//That must be worn at heart. Search well the measure-//** = = **//The words - the syllables! Do not forget//** = = **//The trivialest point, or you may lose your labor//** = = **//And yet there is in this no Gordian knot//** = = **//Which one might not undo without a sabre,//** = = **//If one could merely comprehend the plot.//** = = **//Enwritten upon the leaf where now are peering//** = = **//Eyes scintillating soul, there lie perdus//** = = **//Three eloquent words oft uttered in the hearing//** = = **//Of poets, by poets- as the name is a poet's, too,//** = = **//Its letters, although naturally lying//** = = **//Like the knight Pinto - Mendez Ferdinando -//** = = **//Still from a synonym for Truth- Cease trying!//** = = **//You will not read the riddle, though you do the best you can do.//** = = = = =** Song **= = = I saw thee on the bridal day; When a burning blush came o’er thee, Tho’ Happiness around thee lay, The world all love before thee. = = And, in thine eye, the kindling light Of young passion free Was all on earth, my chain’d sight Of Loveliness might see. = = That blush, I ween, was maiden shame: As such it well may pass: Tho’ its glow hath rais’d a fiercer flame In the breast of him, alas! = = Who saw thee on that bridal day, When that deep blush //would// come o’er thee, — Tho’ Happiness around thee lay; The world all Love before thee. — = = = Eulalie = I dwelt alone  In a world of moan,  And my soul was a stagnant tide,  Till the fair and gentle Eulalie became my blushing bride-  Till the yellow-haired young Eulalie became my smiling bride. Ah, less–less bright  The stars of the night  Than the eyes of the radiant girl!  That the vapor can make  With the moon-tints of purple and pearl, Can vie with the modest Eulalie's most unregarded curl-  Can compare with the bright-eyed Eulalie's most humble and careless  curl. Now Doubt–now Pain  Come never again, <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> For her soul gives me sigh <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> for sigh, <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> And all day long <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Shines, bright and strong, <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Astarte within the sky, <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> While ever to her dear Eulalie upturns her matron eye- <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> While ever to her young Eulalie upturns her violet eye. = = =**ROMANCE**= Romance, who loves to nod and sing, With drowsy head and folded wing, Among the green leaves as they shake Far down within some shadowy lake, To me a painted paroquet Hath been--a most familiar bird-- Taught me my alphabet to say-- To lisp my very earliest word While in the wild wood I did lie, A child--with a most knowing eye.

Of late, eternal Condor years So shake the very Heaven on high With tumult as they thunder by, I have no time for idle cares Though gazing on the unquiet sky. And when an hour with calmer wings Its down upon my spirit flings-- That little time with lyre and rhyme To while away--forbidden things! My heart would feel to be a crime Unless it trembled with the strings.

= __//**EVENING STAR**//__ = 'Twas noontide of summer, And mid-time of night; And stars, in their orbits, Shone pale, thro' the light Of the brighter, cold moon, 'Mid planets her slaves, Herself in the Heavens, Her beam on the waves. I gazed awhile On her cold smile; Too cold- too cold for me- There pass'd, as a shroud, A fleecy cloud, And I turned away to thee, Proud Evening Star, In thy glory afar, And dearer thy beam shall be; For joy to my heart Is the proud part Thou bearest in Heaven at night, And more I admire Thy distant fire, Than that colder, lowly light.