Poems by Edgar Allan Poe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article lists all known poems by American author and critic Edgar Allan Poe, regardless of importance. They are listed alphabetically with the date of their authorship in parentheses.
[edit] An Acrostic (1829)
An unpublished 9-line poem written some time around 1829 for Poe's cousin Elizabeth Rebecca Herring (the acrostic is her first name, spelled out by the first letter of each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 the third line may be Letitia Elizabeth Landon, an English poet 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.
[edit] Al Aaraaf (1829)
[edit] Alone (1829)
[edit] Annabel Lee (1849)
[edit] The Bells (1848)
[edit] Bridal Ballad (1837)
[edit] The City in the Sea (1831)
[edit] The Coliseum (1833)
First published in an October edition of the Baltimore Saturday Visiter, the poem was also incorporated into Poe's unfinished drama Politian. It refers to Rome as a past glory that still exists in imagination.
In a July 1844 letter to fellow author James Russel Lowell, Poe put "The Coliseum" as one of his six best poems.
[edit] The Conqueror Worm (1843)
[edit] (Deep in Earth) (1847)
[edit] The Divine Right of Kings (1845)
[edit] A Dream (1827)
"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 confuse the difference between dream and reality. Its title was attached when it was published in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems in 1829.
[edit] A Dream Within A Dream (1849)
[edit] Dream-Land (1844)
First published in the June 1844 issue of Graham's Magazine, "Dream-Land" 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 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.
The seventh line of the poem is typically pushed slightly to the left of the other lines' indentation.
[edit] Eldorado (1848)
[edit] Elizabeth (1829)
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 the poem that would become "To F——s S. O——d."
[edit] Enigma (1833)
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.
[edit] An Enigma (1848)
A riddle poem in 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 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."
[edit] Epigram for Wall Street (1845)
Printed in the New York Evening Mirror on January 23, 1845, the poem is generally accepted as being written by Poe, though it was published anonymously. Interestingly, 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.
[edit] Eulalie (1843)
[edit] Evangeline (1848)
[edit] Evening Star (1827)
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 a "distant fire" the other stars lack.
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.
[edit] Fairy-Land (1829)
Originally titled "Heaven," "Fairly-Land" was written while Poe was at the United States Military Academy at West Point. First published in the September 1829 issue of The Yankee and Boston Literary Gazette, the Gazette's owner and editor John Neal introduced the poem 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 a beautiful and perhaps magnificent poem. There is a good deal to justify such a hope."
It first was collected in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems in 1829. In that collection, he dedicated "Tamerlane" to Neal.
[edit] Fanny (1833)
First published in the Baltimore Saturday Visiter on May 18, 1833, the poem laments the death of a young love. It was originally signed only as "TAMERLANE."
[edit] For Annie (1849)
"For Annie" was written for Nancy Richmond (whom Poe called Annie) of Lowell, Massachusetts. Richmond was a married woman and Poe developed a strong platonic, though complicated, relationship with her. The poem was first published on April 28, 1849 in two journals: Flag of our Union and Home Journal. 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 says the poem he wrote to Richmond saying, "I think the lines 'For Annie' (those I now send) much the best I have ever written."
Richmond would officially change her name to Annie after her husband's death in 1873.
[edit] The Happiest Day (1827)
"The Happiest Day" or, "The Happiest Day, the Happiest Hour" is a six quatrain poem . It was first published as part of in Poe's first collection Tamerlane and Other Poems. It is believed Poe wrote it while serving in the army and sent it to his brother William Henry Leonard Poe, who then sent it to the magazine. The poem discusses a self-pitying loss of youth, though it was written when Poe was about 19.
Interestingly, the poem was published in September 15, 1827 issue of the North American signed "W. H. P." - perhaps William Henry Poe. T. O Mabbott felt that the rather tepid value of this slightly edited version of the poem suggests that they were made by Edgar's brother, though perhaps with Edgar's approval.
[edit] The Haunted Palace (1839)
[edit] Hymn (1835)
This 16-line poem was sung by the title character in Poe's short story Morella, first published in April 1835 in 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 the word "Catholic."
[edit] Imitation (1827)
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.
It is believed that this poem evolved into the poem "A Dream Within a Dream."
[edit] Impromptu. To Kate Carol (1845)
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 was unsigned when it was published in the Broadway Journal in April of 1845, 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.
[edit] Israfel (1831)
Written while Poe was at West Point, "Israfel" is a poem in eight stanzas of varying lengths that 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 (incorrectly) says that Israfel is described in the Koran 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 is limited in his own "music." Hervey Allen likened Poe himself to Israfel and titled his 1934 biography Israfel: The Life and Times of Edgar Allan Poe.
[edit] The Lake — To —— (1827)
First appearing simply as "The Lake" in Poe's 1827 collection Tamerlane and Other Poems, the amended title appeared in 1829 collected in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems. The poem is a celebration of loneliness and the thoughts inspired by a lake.
For the 1845 collection The Raven and Other Poems, Poe reworked the first line ("In youth's spring, it was my lot") to "In spring of youth it was my lot."
[edit] Lenore (1843)
[edit] A Pæan (1831)
See Lenore.
[edit] Poetry (1824)
This most likely incomplete poem was never printed in Poe's lifetime. It's two lines were found written on a page of some of John Allan's financial records. This is the earliest surviving manuscript in Poe's own hand.
[edit] The Raven (1845)
[edit] Romance (1829)
"Romance" first appeared as "Preface" in the 1829 collection Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems then, in 1831, as "Introduction" in Poems By Edgar A. Poe. It took the title "Romance" in the February 25, 1843 issue of the Philadelphia Saturday Museum. The early versions made some allusion to alcohol with lines like, "drunkenness of the soul" and "the glories of the bowl." In the poem, the speaker refers to some exotic bird that has been with him his whole life. He also says, "I could not love except where Death / Was mingling his with Beauty's breath," a line often termed autobiographical as many of the women in Poe's love life were ill (an early love Jane Stanard died of tuberculosis, as did his wife Virginia; also, his later love Sarah Helen Whitman had a weak heart, etc.).
[edit] Serenade (1833)
This serenade is directed at the beauty of untouched nature, as well as an unnamed lover. It was first printed in the April 20, 1833 issue of the Baltimore Saturday Visiter with the name "E. A. Poe." The poem was never collected in any of Poe's anthologies during his lifetime, was discovered by John C. French in 1917.
[edit] Silence (1839)
Not to be confused with Poe's short story, "Silence: A Fable," "Silence-A Sonnet" was first published on January 4, 1840 in the Philadelphia Saturday Courier. After some revision, it was republished in the Broadway Journal on July 26, 1845. The poem compares the sea and the shore to the body and the soul. There is a death of the body that is silence, the speaker says, that should not be mourned. He does, however, warn against the silent death of the soul.
[edit] The Sleeper (1831)
The poem that would become "The Sleeper" went through many revised versions. First, in the 1831 collection Poems of Edgar A. Poe, it appeared with 74 lines as "Irene." It was 60 lines when it was printed in the Philadelphia Saturday Courier on May 22, 1841. Poe considered it one of his best compositions, according to a note he sent to fellow author James Russell Lowell in 1844. Like many of Poe's works, the poem focuses on the death of a beautiful woman, a death which the mourning narrator struggles to deal with while considering the nature of death and life.
[edit] Song (1827)
"Song" is believed to reference Poe's lost love Sarah Elmira Royster, who broke off her engagement with Poe presumably due to her father. In the ballad-style poem, which first was published in Tamerlane and Other Poems in 1827, the speaker tells of a former love he saw from afar on her wedding day. A blush on her cheek, despite all the happiness around her, displays a hidden shame for having lost the speaker's love.
[edit] Sonnet — To Science (1829)
[edit] Sonnet — To Zante (1837)
A Shakespearean sonnet, it was first published in the January 1837 issue of the Southern Literary Messenger. The poem praises the beauty of the island Zante. The last two lines, written in Italian, are also used in Poe's earlier poem "Al Aaraaf."
[edit] Spirits of the Dead (1827)
"Spirts of the Dead" was first titled "Visits of the Dead" when it was published in the 1827 collection Tamerlane and Other Poems. The title was changed for the 1829 collection Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems. The poem follows a dialogue between a dead speaker and a person visiting his grave. The spirit tells the person that those one knows in life surround a person in death as well.
[edit] Spritual Song (1836)
A poem, most likely incomplete, that was found in Poe's desk at the offices of the Southern Literary Messenger in 1908. The manuscript is believed to date back to 1836; only three lines are known.
[edit] Stanzas (1827)
The title "Stanzas" was assigned to this untitled poem originally printed in Tamerlane and Other Poems in 1827. Another poem with the title "Stanzas" was published in the Graham's Magazine in December of 1845 and signed "P." It was attributed to Poe based on a copy owned by Frances Osgood, on which she had pencilled notes.
[edit] Tamerlane (1827)
[edit] To —— (1829)
This poem, the first of Poe's vague "To -" poems, begins with the line "The bowers whereat, in dreams, I see." It first appeared collected in the 1829 Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems before being reprinted in the September 20, 1845 issue of the Broadway Journal. Only 12 lines, the poem deals with the speaker's loss which leaves him with "a funeral mind." The poem, despite is many reprintings, never had any significant revisions.
[edit] To —— (1833)
This poem begins "Sleep on, sleep on, another hour" and first appeared in the Baltimore Saturday Visiter on May 11, 1833. It was signed "TAMERLANE" (just as the poem "Fanny," which would be printed in the same periodical one week later) and addressed to an anonymous woman. It is essentially a lullaby.
[edit] To —— —— (1829)
Begins with "Not long ago, the writer of these lines..."
[edit] To F—— (1845)
The poem that begins "Beloved! amid the earnest woes..." was published by the Broadway Journal twice in 1845 - once in the April issue then cut down to four lines in the September 6 issue with the more revealing title "To Frances." Referring to Frances S. Osgood, the speaker discusses the chaos and woes of his life, and how they are calmed by dreams of this woman he is addressing.
It was actually a re-working of "To Mary," first published in the Southern Literary Messenger's July 1835 issue. It was also revised into "To One Departed," printed in Graham's Magazine, March 1842, before it was ever addressed to Frances Osgood.
[edit] To F——s S. O——d (1835 / 1845)
Originally a poem called "To Elizabeth," dedicated to Poe's cousin Elizabeth Herring and written in album of hers. It was then published in the September 1835 issue of the Southern Literary Messenger as "Lines Written in an Album" and apparently addressed to Eliza White, daughter of Thomas W. White, the Messenger's owner. It was renamed to the ambiguous "To —" in the August 1839 issue of Burton's Gentlemen's Magazine. With minor revisions, it was finally renamed in honor of Frances S. Osgood and published in the 1845 collection The Raven and Other Poems.
The speaker asks the addressee, "Thou wouldst be loved?" and suggest she stay on her current path to achieve that goal.
[edit] To Helen (1831)
[edit] To Helen (1848)
The original manuscript was sent to Sarah Helen Whitman in 1848. It was published as "To —— —— ——" in the Union Magazine's November issue that year. It became the second of Poe's "To Helen" poems when published in "To Helen" in the October 10, 1849 issue of the New York Daily Tribune.
[edit] To Isaac Lea (1829)
"To Isaac Lea" is an unfinished poem, presumed written in May of 1829. Only four lines are known to exist. It seems to come from a letter Poe wrote to Isaac Lea, noted as a publishing partner in Philadelphia who was interested in natural history, especially conchology. Poe would attach his name to The Conchologist's First Book ten years later.
[edit] To M—— (1828)
Poe toyed with the working title "Alone" before this poem was printed as "To M——" in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems. Poe would use the title "Alone" in 1829.
[edit] To M. L. S—— (1847)
[edit] To Margaret (1827)
[edit] To Marie Louise (1847)
Written in 1847 for Marie Louise Shew, voluntary nurse of Poe's wife Virginia, it was not published until March 1848 in Columbian Magazine as "To —— ——."
[edit] To Miss Louise Olivia Hunter (1847)
Never published in Poe's lifetime, it was found as a manuscript dated February 14, 1847. It was included in the 1969 anthology edited by Thomas Olive Mabbott.
According to the Baltimore Poe Society, Hunter was a college student who entered a poetry contest judged by Poe in 1845. Hunter won, and Poe read her poem at a commencement ceremony on July 11, 1845. Poe's poem may have been written as part of one of Anne C. Lynch's annual Valentine's Day parties, though the poem contains no romantic or particularly personal overtones.
[edit] To My Mother (1849)
A heartful sonnet written to Poe's mother-in-law and aunt Maria Clemm, "To My Mother" says that the mother of the woman he loved is more important than his own mother. It was first published on July 7, 1849 in Flag of Our Union. It has alternately been published as "Sonnet to My Mother."
[edit] To Octavia (1827)
An unpublished, untitled manuscript, a date at the bottom of the original copy ("May the 1st, 1827") appears to have been written by someone other than Poe. The date is questionable for this reason. The poem, which may be incomplete, tells of the speaker's unrequited love for Octavia being so strong, even "wit, and wine, and friends" can not distract him from it.
[edit] To One in Paradise (1833)
"To One in Paradise" was first published without a title as part of the short story "The Visionary" (later renamed "The Assignation"). It evolved int "To Ianthe in Heaven" then "To One Beloved" before being named "To One in Paradise" in the February 25, 1843 Saturday Museum.
The poem inspired a song composed by Sir Arthur Sullivan. "To One In Paradise" was published posthumously in 1904 and written for a tenor voice with piano.
[edit] To The River —— (1828)
First published in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems, it was also included in the 1845 collection The Raven and Other Poems.
[edit] Ulalume (1847)
[edit] A Valentine (1846)
First published in the New York Evening Mirror's February 21, 1846 issue, "A Valentine" was written specifically for Frances Sargent Osgood, whose name is cleverly hidden within the lines of the poem. In its first publication, it had the title "To Her Whose Name Is Written Below." To find the name, take the first letter of the first line, then the second letter of the second line, then the third letter of the third line, and so on.
[edit] The Valley of Unrest (1831)
First published as "The Valley Nis" in Poems by Edgar A. Poe in 1831, it was renamed for the April 1845 issue of the American Review. The speaker asks if all things lovely are far away, and that the valley is part Satan, part angel, and a large part broken heart. It mentions a woman named "Helen," which may actually refer to Jane Stanard, one of Poe's first loves and the mother of a friend.
[edit] Reference
- Sova, Dawn B. Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z. Checkmark Books, 2001.
- The Edgar Allan Poe Society online
| Edgar Allan Poe |
|---|
| Poems |
|
Poetry (1824) • O, Tempora! O, Mores! (1825) • Song (1827) • Imitation (1827) • Spirits of the Dead (1827) • A Dream (1827) • Stanzas (1827) • Tamerlane (1827) • The Lake (1827) • Evening Star (1827) • A Dream (1827) • To Margaret (1827) • The Happiest Day (1827) • To The River —— (1828) (1828) • Romance (1829) • Fairy-Land (1829) • To Science (1829) • To Isaac Lea (1829) • Al Aaraaf (1829) • An Acrostic (1829) • Elizabeth (1829) • To Helen (1831) • A Paean (1831) • The Sleeper (1831) • The City in the Sea (1831) • The Valley of Unrest (1831) • Israfel (1831) • The Coliseum (1833) • Enigma (1833) • Fanny (1833) • Serenade (1833) • Song of Triumph from Epimanes (1833) • Latin Hymn (1833) • To One in Paradise (1833) • Hymn (1835) • Politician (1835) • May Queen Ode (1836) • Spiritual Song (1836) • Bridal Ballad (1837) • To Zante (1837) • The Haunted Palace (1839) • Silence, a Sonnet (1839) • Lines on Joe Locke (1843) • The Conqueror Worm (1843) • Lenore (1843) • Eulalie (1843) • A Campaign Song (1844) • Dream-Land (1844) • Impromptu. To Kate Carol (1845) • To Frances (1845) • The Divine Right of Kings (1845) • Epigram for Wall Street (1845) • The Raven (1845) • A Valentine (1846) • Beloved Physician (1847) • An Enigma (1847) • Deep in Earth (1847) • Ulalume (1847) • Lines on Ale (1848) • To Marie Louise (1848) • Evangeline (1848) • Eldorado (1849) • For Annie (1849) • The Bells (1849) • Annabel Lee (1849) • A Dream Within A Dream (1850) • Alone (1875) |
| Tales |
| Metzengerstein (1832) • The Duc De L'Omelette (1832) • A Tale of Jerusalem (1832) • Loss of Breath (1832) • Bon-Bon (1832) • MS. Found in a Bottle (1833) • The Assignation (1834) • Berenice (1835) • Morella (1835) • Lionizing (1835) • The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall (1835) • King Pest (1835) • Shadow - A Parable (1835) • Four Beasts in One - The Homo-Cameleopard (1836) • Mystification (1837) • Silence - A Fable (1837) • Ligeia (1838) • How to Write a Blackwood Article (1838) • A Predicament (1838) • The Devil in the Belfry (1839) • The Man That Was Used Up (1839) • The Fall of the House of Usher (1839) • William Wilson (1839) • The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion (1839) • Why the Little Frenchman Wears His Hand in a Sling (1840) • The Business Man (1840) • The Man of the Crowd (1840) • The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841) • A Descent into the Maelstrom (1841) • The Island of the Fay (1841) • The Colloquy of Monos and Una (1841) • Never Bet the Devil Your Head (1841) • Eleonora (1841) • Three Sundays in a Week (1841) • The Oval Portrait (1842) • The Masque of the Red Death (1842) • The Landscape Garden (1842) • The Mystery of Marie Roget (1842) • The Pit and the Pendulum (1842) • The Tell-Tale Heart (1843) • The Gold-Bug (1843) • The Black Cat (1843) • Diddling (1843) • The Spectacles (1844) • A Tale of the Ragged Mountains (1844) • The Premature Burial (1844) • Mesmeric Revelation (1844) • The Oblong Box (1844) • The Angel of the Odd (1844) • Thou Art the Man (1844) • The Literary Life of Thingum Bob, Esq. (1844) • The Purloined Letter (1844) • The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade (1845) • Some Words with a Mummy (1845) • The Power of Words (1845) • The Imp of the Perverse (1845) • The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether (1845) • The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar (1845) • The Sphinx (1846) • The Cask of Amontillado (1846) • The Domain of Arnheim (1847) • Mellonta Tauta (1849) • Hop-Frog (1849) • Von Kempelen and His Discovery (1849) • X-ing a Paragrab (1849) • Landor's Cottage (1849) |
| Other Works |
| Essays: Maelzel's Chess Player (1836) • The Daguerreotype (1840) • The Philosophy of Furniture (1840) • A Few Words on Secret Writing (1841) • The Rationale of Verse (1843) • Morning on the Wissahiccon (1844) • Old English Poetry (1845) • The Philosophy of Composition (1846) • The Poetic Principle (1846) • Eureka (1848) Hoaxes: • The Balloon-Hoax (1844) Novels: The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1837) • The Journal of Julius Rodman (1840) Plays: Scenes From 'Politian' (1835) Other: The Conchologist's First Book (1839) • The Light-House (1849) |
