Ah, broken is the golden bowl! the spirit flown forever!
Let the bell toll!- a saintly soul floats on the Stygian river;
And, Guy de Vere, hast thou no tear?- weep now or nevermore!
See! on yon drear and rigid bier low lies thy love, Lenore!
Come! let the burial rite be read- the funeral song be sung!-
An anthem for the queenliest dead that ever died so young-
A dirge for her the doubly dead in that she died so young.
"Wretches! ye loved her for her wealth and hated her for her pride,
And when she fell in feeble health, ye blessed her- that she died!
How shall the ritual, then, be read?- the requiem how be sung
By you- by yours, the evil eye,- by yours, the slanderous tongue
That did to death the innocence that died, and died so young?"
Peccavimus; but rave not thus! and let a Sabbath song
Go up to God so solemnly the dead may feel no wrong.
The sweet Lenore hath "gone before," with Hope, that flew beside,
Leaving thee wild for the dear child that should have been thy
bride.
For her, the fair and debonair, that now so lowly lies,
The life upon her yellow hair but not within her eyes
The life still there, upon her hair- the death upon her eyes.
"Avaunt! avaunt! from fiends below, the indignant ghost is riven-
From Hell unto a high estate far up within the Heaven-
From grief and groan, to a golden throne, beside the King of
Heaven!
Let no bell toll, then,- lest her soul, amid its hallowed mirth,
Should catch the note as it doth float up from the damned Earth!
And I!- to-night my heart is light!- no dirge will I upraise,
But waft the angel on her flight with a Paean of old days!"
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one of my most favorite poems ever, ever. It is so lovely and sad and overflowing with emotion, and yet not wild with it. . .it is just amazing. . .all hail to Poe!
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love it.
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this is one of my most fave. poems poe has done. it speeks of such power and beuty held by lenore. and how those so jelus of her wished her dead, but then so falsely morned her. too is my fav line the same as Arcaenne. it just slams those back stabers right back. and her groom not a tear he shed for lose of her.
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Lenore... the one the angels name in The Raven. Not aware of this back story, as it were, and kicking myself for not seeing it earlier. Poe's work is truly timeless, I particualrly like the lines
"How shall the ritual, then, be read?- the requiem how be sung
By you- by yours, the evil eye,- by yours, the slanderous tongue
That did to death the innocence that died, and died so young?"
Tragic and beautiful, as is so much of his genius.
I LOVE POE! -
I love all of Poe's work, especially this one. There's nothing better than to curl up with some good Poe "on a dark and dreary night" as he has been known to say.
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How can more people not be reading this poem? -
don't touch it!
I agree.... The best... AS of yet
*~* MaliCe In WoNderland *~* -
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definitely one of his best.
-Brandon -
i had never read this one before, i like it, a lot, too sleepy to be good with words right now though, but oh such pictures his words paint in my mind :)
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This is very good, hmmm, haven't read this one often, but this is one of his best, I think.
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nothing better than poe.
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