PREFACE.

These trifles are collected and republished chiefly with a view to their redemption from the many improvements to which they have been subjected while going at random “the rounds of the press.” I am naturally anxious that what I have written should circulate as I wrote it, if it circulate at all. In defence of my own taste, nevertheless, it is incumbent upon me to say that I think nothing in this volume of much value to the public, or very creditable to myself. Events not to be controlled have prevented me from making, at any time, any serious effort in what, under happier circumstances, would have been the field of my choice. With me poetry has been not a purpose, but a passion; and the passions should be held in reverence; they must not—they cannot at will be excited, with an eye to the paltry compensations, or the more paltry commendations of mankind.

E. A. P.

CONTENTS.

MISCELLANEOUS POEMS:—

PAGE

The Raven 1

Lenore 9

A Valentine 12

The Coliseum 13

To —— —— 15

To Helen 17

An Enigma 22

Ulalume 23

To —— 28

To my Mother 29

The Bells 30

The Conqueror Worm 39

Annabel Lee 42

The Valley of Unrest 46

Israfel 48

Silence 52

To Zante 53

To F——s S. O——d 55

Bridal Ballad 56

The Haunted Palace 58

Eulalie 62

To F—— 64

To One in Paradise 65

Dream-land 67

Hymn 71

The Sleeper 72

For Annie 76

Eldorado 82

A Dream within a Dream 85

The City in the Sea 87

Scenes from “Politian;” an unpublished Drama 91

POEMS WRITTEN IN YOUTH:—

Al Aaraaf 149

Sonnet—To Science 173

To the River —— 174

Tamerlane 176

To —— 192

A Dream 194

Romance 195

Fairy-Land 197

The Lake. —— To —— 201

Song 203

To M. L. S. 204

To Helen 205

Notes to Al Aaraaf 207

THE POETIC PRINCIPLE 217

ILLUSTRATIONS.

ARTIST. ENGRAVER. PAGE

Portrait of Edgar Allan Poe. Daguerreotype J. Cooper xvii

THE RAVEN.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain

Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before. John Tenniel J. Cooper 1

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,

In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore. John Tenniel J. Cooper 3

“Wretch,” I cried, “thy God hath lent thee—by these angels he hath sent thee

Respite—respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!” John Tenniel J. Cooper 6

And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting

On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door. John Tenniel J. Cooper 8

LENORE.

The life upon her yellow hair, but not within her eyes—

The life still there, upon her hair—the death upon her eyes. F. R. Pickersgill W. J. Linton 9

The sweet Lenore hath “gone before,” with Hope, that flew beside,

Leaving thee wild for the dear child that should have been thy bride. Felix Darley J. Cooper 11

THE COLISEUM.

But stay! these walls—these ivy-clad arcades—

These mouldering plinths—these sad and blackened shafts. Jasper Cropsey W. J. Linton 13

TO HELEN.

It was a July midnight; and from out

A full-orbed moon, ...

There fell a silvery-silken veil of light. Birket Foster W. T. Green 17

Clad all in white, upon a violet bank

I saw thee half reclining. F. R. Pickersgill W. J. Linton 19

And thou, a ghost, amid the entombing trees

Didst glide away. Birket Foster J. Cooper 21

ULALUME.

It was down by the dank tarn of Auber,

In the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir. Jasper Cropsey W. J. Linton 23

That I brought a dread burden down here—

On this night of all nights in the year. F. R. Pickersgill W. J. Linton 27

THE BELLS.

Hear the sledges with the bells—

Silver bells! Felix Darley J. Cooper 30

Through the balmy air of night

How they ring out their delight! Birket Foster E. Evans 32

Hear the loud alarum bells—

. . . . . .

In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire. Felix Darley J. Cooper 34

In the silence of the night,

How we shiver with affright. F. R. Pickersgill W. J. Linton 36

ANNABEL LEE.

I was a child and she was a child,

In this kingdom by the sea. Birket Foster J. Cooper 42

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee. Birket Foster J. Cooper 44

ISRAFEL.

In heaven a spirit doth dwell

“Whose heart-strings are a lute.” P. Duggan W. J. Linton 48

TO ZANTE.

Fair isle, that from the fairest of all flowers,

Thy gentlest of all gentle names dost take! Birket Foster E. Evans 53

THE HAUNTED PALACE.

Once a fair and stately palace—

Radiant palace—reared its head. A. M. Madot E. Evans 58

EULALIE.

Till the fair and gentle Eulalie became my blushing bride—

Till the yellow-haired young Eulalie became my smiling bride. F. R. Pickersgill W. J. Linton 62

TO ONE IN PARADISE.

Such language holds the solemn sea

To the sands upon the shore. Birket Foster E. Evans 65

DREAM-LAND.

Shrouded forms that start and sigh

As they pass the wanderer by. F. R. Pickersgill W. J. Linton 69

THE SLEEPER.

At midnight, in the month of June,

I stand beneath the mystic moon. Birket Foster E. Evans 72

FOR ANNIE.

And she prayed to the angels

To keep me from harm. F. R. Pickersgill W. J. Linton 78

ELDORADO.

And, as his strength

Failed him at length,

He met a pilgrim shadow. F. R. Pickersgill W. J. Linton 83

A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM.

I stand amid the roar

Of a surf-tormented shore. Birket Foster J. Cooper 85

THE CITY IN THE SEA.

Lo! Death has reared himself a throne

In a strange city lying alone. Jasper Cropsey W. J. Linton 87

The waves have now a redder glow—

The hours are breathing faint and low. Jasper Cropsey W. J. Linton 89

SCENES FROM “POLITIAN.”

View of Rome. Percival Skelton J. Cooper 93

Heard I aright?

I speak to him—he speaks of Lalage! F. R. Pickersgill Hammond 97

A garden. Birket Foster J. Cooper 102

Think of eternal things;

Give up thy soul to penitence, and pray! F. R. Pickersgill E. Evans 110

Politian, it doth grieve me

To see thee thus. A. M. Madot E. Evans 114

Listen now—listen!—the faintest sound,

And yet the sweetest that ear ever heard!

A lady’s voice!—and sorrow in the tone! A. M. Madot H. Harral 120

Weep not! oh, sob not thus!—thy bitter tears

Will madden me. Oh, mourn not, Lalage! Birket Foster J. Cooper 127

Hist! hush! within the gloom

Of yonder trees methought a figure passed. F. R. Pickersgill E. Evans 132

The suburbs of Rome. Percival Skelton J. Cooper 136

AL AARAAF.

O! nothing earthly save the thrill

Of melody in woodland rill. Birket Foster J. Cooper 149

Of her who loved a mortal—and so died. F. R. Pickersgill W. J. Linton 152

As sprang that yellow star from downy hours,

Up rose the maiden from her shrine of flowers. A. M. Madot W. Thomas 157

High on a mountain of enamelled head—

. . . . . . arose a pile

Of gorgeous columns. Percival Skelton J. Whymper 159

On its margin is sleeping

Full many a maid. F. R. Pickersgill W. J. Linton 166

Was a proud temple called the Parthenon. Percival Skelton J. Cooper 170

TO THE RIVER.

For in his heart, as in thy stream,

Her image deeply lies. Birket Foster E. Evans 174

TAMERLANE.

We grew in age—and love—together—

Roaming the forest, and the wild. A. M. Madot W. J. Linton 181

We walked together on the crown

Of a high mountain. Birket Foster J. Cooper 185

A voice came from the threshold stone

Of one whom I had earlier known. A. M. Madot W. J. Linton 189

TO ——.

The bowers whereat, in dreams, I see

The wantonest singing birds. Birket Foster E. Evans 192

FAIRY-LAND.

Dim vales—and shadowy floods—

And cloudy-looking woods. Birket Foster J. Cooper 198

THE LAKE.

A wild lake, with black rock bound,

And the tall pines that towered around. Birket Foster J. Cooper 201

The Head and Tail-pieces and Initial Letters. W. Harry Rogers E. Evans

Under the Superintendence of Joseph Cundall.