Every Day Poems - A Poem A Day

Wild nights! Wild nights! by Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was one of the most famous and influential American poets. She led a very private life, rarely leaving her hometown of Amherst

Wild nights! Wild nights!

by Emily Dickinson

Wild nights! Wild nights!
Were I with thee,
Wild nights should be
Our luxury!

Futile the winds
To a heart in port, —
Done with the compass,
Done with the chart.

Rowing in Eden!
Ah! the sea!
Might I but moor
To-night in thee!

Summary

This poem, “Wild Nights – Wild Nights!” by Emily Dickinson, expresses the speaker’s longing for passionate connection with a beloved. The repetition of “Wild nights!” emphasizes the intensity of the speaker’s desire.

The poem uses the metaphor of a ship finding safe harbor to represent the fulfillment and security the speaker imagines feeling with her lover. Lines like “Done with the compass, / Done with the chart” suggest a sense of finally arriving at one’s true destination.

The exclamation “Rowing in Eden!” evokes the biblical garden of paradise, implying that being with the beloved would be a return to an ideal state of bliss and innocence.
The final stanza conveys the speaker’s yearning to “moor” herself with her lover, to anchor there even just for one night. The poem ultimately expresses deep romantic and sexual desire through its concise yet evocative figurative language.

Analysis

Structure: The poem consists of three stanzas, each containing four lines (quatrains). The second and fourth lines of each stanza rhyme (thee/be, port/chart, sea/thee), creating a sense of harmony and reinforcing the poem’s main themes.

Meaning and Metaphors: The poem expresses the speaker’s intense longing for a passionate connection with a lover. Dickinson employs the extended metaphor of a ship at sea to represent the speaker’s emotional state. The “wild nights” symbolize the speaker’s desire for unbridled passion and intimacy.

In the first stanza, the speaker imagines the joy and “luxury” of spending wild nights with her beloved. The second stanza suggests that once the heart has found its “port” (i.e., the lover), external circumstances (“futile the winds”) become irrelevant. The compass and chart, tools for navigation, are no longer necessary because the speaker has found her true destination.

The third stanza introduces a biblical allusion with “Rowing in Eden!” This line suggests that being with the beloved would be akin to returning to paradise, a place of pure bliss and innocence. The speaker’s wish to “moor” herself to her lover, even if only for one night, underscores the depth of her desire.

Language and Tone: Dickinson’s word choice and punctuation contribute to the poem’s passionate tone. The exclamations (“Wild nights!”, “Ah! the sea!”) convey a sense of yearning and intensity. The use of dashes (—) creates pauses that emphasize the speaker’s emotional state.

Themes: The main themes of the poem include passion, desire, love, and the search for fulfillment. Dickinson explores the idea that finding true love can provide a sense of completeness and a refuge from life’s uncertainties.

Historical Context: Emily Dickinson wrote during the 19th century when open expressions of female sexuality were somewhat taboo. This poem can be seen as a bold and provocative declaration of a woman’s desire, making it a powerful and subversive work for its time.

Analysis Questions

1. What is the central metaphor in the poem, and how does it relate to the speaker’s emotional state?
2. How does Dickinson’s use of exclamation points and dashes contribute to the poem’s overall tone and mood?
3. In the second stanza, the speaker claims to be “Done with the compass, / Done with the chart.” What do these navigation tools symbolize, and why does the speaker feel they are no longer necessary?
4. The third stanza includes the line “Rowing in Eden!” What is the significance of this biblical allusion, and how does it relate to the speaker’s desire?
5. Considering the historical context of 19th-century society, how might this poem have been perceived as a bold or unconventional expression of female desire? How does this contribute to the poem’s overall impact and meaning?

Discussion questions

The poem is often interpreted as an expression of sexual desire. How does Dickinson convey this theme through her choice of words, metaphors, and structure? Is there any ambiguity in the poem that might suggest other interpretations?
Dickinson uses the extended metaphor of a ship at sea to represent the speaker’s emotional state. How effective is this metaphor in conveying the intensity of the speaker’s longing? What other metaphors or images might the poet have used to express similar ideas?
In the context of 19th-century society, how might this poem have challenged conventional notions of female desire and sexuality? Do you think the poem’s meaning or impact changes when read from a contemporary perspective?
The poem’s title and first line, “Wild Nights – Wild Nights!” is repeated and followed by an exclamation point. What effect does this repetition and punctuation have on the poem’s tone and the reader’s perception of the speaker’s emotional state?
The final stanza introduces a religious allusion with the line “Rowing in Eden!” How does this reference to the biblical paradise contribute to the poem’s themes of desire and fulfillment? Does the religious imagery change your understanding of the poem’s central metaphor or the speaker’s longing?

Biography

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was one of the most famous and influential American poets. She led a very private life, rarely leaving her hometown of Amherst, Massachusetts, where she pursued her passion for writing poems that broke conventional rules of style and theme.

Though she wrote nearly 1800 poems, less than a dozen were published during her lifetime. She was known for being reclusive and eccentric, interacting largely through letters. Her poems reflect deep insights into death, religion, nature, love and other weighty topics.

After Dickinson died, her sister discovered the enormous collection of unpublished poems and and wanted them published.. Emily Dickinson garnered recognition for her innovatively sparse, untitled form as well as her symbolic richness and bold questioning of core beliefs and doctrines. Her body of work became very influential for modernist and contemporary poets.

Today, Emily Dickinson is considered one of the towering figures of American literature. Though she never formally studied poetry and had little exposure to literary society, she is now studied globally and continues to inspire writers with the intensity and enigmatic beauty of her small yet profound poems.

Musky Dog by E Kraft

E Kraft is a poet who enjoys creating origami art and coding for a non-profit organization. Her poems have been published by The Inlandia Institute

Musky Dog

by E Kraft

Old lab wears
Earthy musk with
Pride and
Odor following
Every stride,

Yet love still
Endures
For he is my
Best friend
Forever.

E Kraft is a poet who enjoys creating origami art and coding for a non-profit organization. Her poems have been published by The Inlandia Institute, The Hanging Loose Press, The National Poetry Quarterly, and others. She is grateful for everyone who has read her poems or attended her readings.

Pure by Marcia Trahan

Marcia Trahan is the author of Mercy: A Memoir of Medical Trauma and True Crime Obsession (Barrelhouse Books). Her essays and poetry have appeared in HuffPost,

Pure

Listen: living
is what I want to talk about.

When my struggles ended,
I simply walked down
a newly opened path.

I saw the sun,
building gold and true.

Survival brings guilt
when so many go dark.

But I knew that
my spirit would not fly off,
the black earth would not consume me.
I saw grasshoppers flitting greenly at my feet,
I saw a cardinal dressed in its reds,
watching to see what I would do next.

In the exact center of my body
there was fire, an irrepressible flame:
fuel, not damage,
pure, no ashes.

Marcia Trahan is the author of Mercy: A Memoir of Medical Trauma and True Crime Obsession (Barrelhouse Books). Her essays and poetry have appeared in HuffPost, Two Hawks Quarterly, Wild Roof Journal, Cloudbank, The Rumpus, Catapult, the Brevity Blog, Fourth Genre, and other publications. Marcia works as a freelance book editor and holds an MFA from Bennington College. To learn more, visit www.marciatrahan.com.

TOO MUCH by Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was one of the most famous and influential American poets. She led a very private life, rarely leaving

TOO MUCH

by Emily Dickinson

I should have been too glad, I see,
Too lifted for the scant degree
Of life’s penurious round;
My little circuit would have shamed
This new circumference, have blamed
The homelier time behind.

I should have been too saved, I see,
Too rescued; fear too dim to me
That I could spell the prayer
I knew so perfect yesterday, —
That scalding one, “Sabachthani,”
Recited fluent here.

Earth would have been too much, I see,
And heaven not enough for me;
I should have had the joy
Without the fear to justify, —
The palm without the Calvary;
So, Saviour, crucify.

Defeat whets victory, they say;
The reefs in old Gethsemane
Endear the shore beyond.
‘T is beggars banquets best define;
‘T is thirsting vitalizes wine, —
Faith faints to understand.

Biography

in the fever we call living by Kathleen Hellen

Featured on Poetry Daily and Verse Daily, Kathleen Hellen’s work has been nominated multiple times for Best of the Net and the Pushcart.

in the fever we call living

“The death of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world.” EAP

we flapped our arms like dark birds lighted on the Pallas /
I was cousined

to the likeness of / my Mother and Lenore / my poor soul / the guilty
narrator / self-
sabotaging

in rehearsed
bereavement / in bitter quarrels with / the ill
angels / feasting on the drop of blood I carried
to the table

when the wind blew out of a cloud / when the wind
haunted trees
I wandered in her cemeteries / sick or drunk / or both /

consumed with death / electing
oblivion, in another man’s soiled clothes

###

Featured on Poetry Daily and Verse Daily, Kathleen Hellen’s work has been nominated multiple times for Best of the Net and the Pushcart. She is the recipient of the James Still Award, the Thomas Merton prize for Poetry of the Sacred, and poetry prizes from the H.O.W. Journal and Washington Square Review. Hellen is the author of three full-length poetry collections, including Meet Me at the Bottom, The Only Country Was the Color of My Skin, and Umberto’s Night, which won the poetry prize from Washington Writers’ Publishing House, and two chapbooks.

Hope by Emily Dickinson

In her poem “Hope,” Emily Dickinson uses an extended metaphor to compare hope to a bird, illustrating its resilience, comfort, and constancy.

Hope

by Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I ‘ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

Analysis

In her poem “Hope,” Emily Dickinson uses an extended metaphor to compare hope to a bird, illustrating its resilience, comfort, and constancy. The analysis of the poem can be broken down into the following aspects:

Extended Metaphor: Throughout the poem, Dickinson personifies hope as a bird that resides within the human soul. This metaphor suggests that hope is a living, dynamic presence that provides comfort and strength to individuals.

Resilience: The bird of hope “never stops at all” and continues to sing its tune even in the midst of life’s challenges and difficulties, represented by the “gale” and “storm.” This highlights the resilience of hope and its ability to persevere through hardships.

Comfort: The bird’s song is “sweetest in the gale” and “kept so many warm,” implying that hope offers the greatest comfort during times of adversity. It has the power to soothe and reassure individuals facing challenges.

Constancy: Dickinson emphasizes that hope is a constant presence, found in “the chillest land” and “on the strangest sea.” No matter the circumstances or location, hope remains steadfast and unwavering.

Self-sufficiency: The final stanza underscores the self-sufficiency of hope. The bird “never, in extremity, / It asked a crumb of me,” suggesting that hope does not depend on external sustenance or validation. It is an inherent part of the human experience.

Imagery and Sound: Dickinson’s choice of words, such as “perches,” “sings,” “gale,” and “storm,” evoke vivid imagery and create a sense of movement and energy within the poem. The alliteration in “sing” and “soul” adds to the poem’s musicality, reinforcing the idea of hope as a song within the soul.

Through this poem, Dickinson presents hope as a powerful, enduring force that provides solace, strength, and encouragement to individuals facing life’s challenges. The extended metaphor of the bird effectively conveys the intangible nature of hope and its profound impact on the human experience.

Biography

West by Philip Newton

Philip Newton is a writer, musician and stonemason living in Oregon. In addition to publishing one novel, TERRANE (Unsolicited Press, 2018),

West

by Philip Newton

Here at the edge of things
the place where everything
stops
you can hold on to it
put one foot in the ocean
and keep one leg
on the curve of coast
You won’t be cornered
in some dismal canyon
smelling of tar and leather
You know there’s a place
to jump off

The sun disappears
safely extinguished
every night behind the waves
Its last fires reveal where
toothed creatures and
lost iron lie
Its ghost crosses the water
to east west shores
Once I went that way
and watched it rise
again from the deep

###

Philip Newton is a writer, musician and stonemason living in Oregon. In addition to publishing one novel, TERRANE (Unsolicited Press, 2018), shorter works have appeared or are upcoming in Ginosko Literary, Letters Journal (Yale), The Hamilton Stone Review, Roanoke Review, Gargoyle, and other periodicals. He is a graduate of the Sonoma State University writing program.

Betty by Moody Creek

Melody Creek resides in East Tennessee where you can often find her writing poetry, reading thrillers, and making art.

Betty

by Moody Creek

I miss Cranium and the way we shared clothes and
that time at the beach when you pierced your nose
and what your mom said when you called to let her know.

I miss the 15 hour plane ride, maybe it was even more
and I miss eating carbonara by the Greek shore
singing Wicked, waking up the people next door.

I remember when you introduced us and at first it was fun
but somewhere between introductions and wedding plans I was done
and now I’m the one with a song left unsung.

You get to move on with a conversation left unsaid
and I get to deal with the feeling of being misled
and this extra loneliness built up in my head.

Or maybe it’s my heart.

And even though I told myself I would never go through,
that I would die a hundred times before it became something I would do
I can’t help but to admit that I do miss you.

Even if it’s just a little.

And even though we both are responsible
for hurt words that now seems it was so resolvable
what hurts the most is I know you don’t miss me in the
slightest
way
possible.

###

Melody Creek resides in East Tennessee where you can often find her writing poetry, reading thrillers, and making art. She has been published in Snapdragon Journal, Cajun Mutt Press, NY Literary Magazine, and more. Follow her on Facebook and check out her book “Anxiety, Depression, and Other Sorts of Trauma” on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Movie Buff by Ivan Jenson

Ivan Jenson is a fine artist, novelist, screenwriter, and popular contemporary poet who lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Movie Buff

by Ivan Jenson

We aren’t that very
different you know
we all turn into
Jimmy Stewarts
at first snow
and become
Judy Garlands
when we witness
a rainbow
our past
is always
black and white
our present
technicolor
our future only
William Shatner
truly knows
and when time
like Brando
makes us
that offer
we can’t refuse
we become
dynamite in
William Holden’s hands
with a burning fuse
by then it’s already too late
to ask why oh why
as we blow up
and topple down
like the bridge
on the River Kwai

###

Ivan Jenson is a fine artist, novelist, screenwriter, and popular contemporary poet who lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

His artwork was featured in Art in America, Art News, and Interview Magazine and has sold at auction at Christie’s. Amongst Ivan’s commissions are the final portrait of the late Malcolm Forbes and a painting titled “Absolut Jenson” for Absolut Vodka’s national ad campaign. His Absolut paintings are in the collection of the Spritmuseum, the museum of spirits in Stockholm, Sweden. Jenson’s painting of the “Marlboro Man” was collected by the Philip Morris corporation.

His novels, Dead Artist and Seeing Soriah, illustrate the creative, often dramatic lives of artists. Jenson’s poetry is widely published (with over 1,000 poems published in the US, UK and Europe) in a variety of literary media. He has published a poetry book, Media Child and Other Poems, and two novels, Marketing Mia and Erotic Rights.

Mundane Miracles, his critically acclaimed poetry collection, hit number 1 on Amazon in American Poetry.

East of Ivan, his memoir, has continuously been on the Amazon Bestsellers list since its release. His new novel, The Tigress, has also charted on the Amazon Bestseller list.

Ivan Jenson’s website: www.ivanjenson.com

Twitter: @IvanJenson

The farthest thunder that I heard XXVI by Emily Dickinson

The farthest thunder that I heard XXVI

by Emily Dickinson

The farthest thunder that I heard
Was nearer than the sky,
And rumbles still, though torrid noons
Have lain their missiles by.
The lightning that preceded it
Struck no one but myself,
But I would not exchange the bolt
For all the rest of life.
Indebtedness to oxygen
The chemist may repay,
But not the obligation
To electricity.
It founds the homes and decks the days,
And every clamor bright
Is but the gleam concomitant
Of that waylaying light.
The thought is quiet as a flake, —
A crash without a sound;
How life’s reverberation
Its explanation found!

Analysis

Central Metaphor:

The lightning bolt serves as a metaphor for those sudden, unexpected moments that profoundly impact and alter one’s life. The reference to being personally “struck” hints at pivotal moments – falling in love, experiencing loss and grief, achieving a long-held dream. The poem suggests these moments reverberate through the rest of one’s life.

Tone:

While the tone contains awe, there is also intimacy in the speaker’s personal confrontation with the lightning. This mirrors the intimacy of experiencing a life-defining moment. There is also nostalgia in “rumble still,” hinting at remembering a pivotal instant years later.

Theme:

The transformative power of sudden moments is the overarching theme connecting the poem to the human experience. Additional themes that relate to life include the foundational role certain experiences play in constructing our lives and identities, and the ripple effects from impactful events.

Imagery:

The imagery of a lightning strike parallels the imagery one might use to describe a life-altering event – being “struck” by something with force, being rattled, having your whole world illuminated. The “clangor” and “gleam” suggest the noise and brightness of pivotal moments. Thunder echoing for years mirrors the longevity of these moments.

Overall Message:

The poem is emphasizing how brief, potent moments can define our existence – striking quickly yet impacting all the days that follow. Like lightning, these experiences are central to human life and development. The poem is a tribute to these flashes that explanations and words fail to capture fully.

Guided Questions for The farthest thunder that I heard XXVI by Emily Dickinson

How does the imagery of lightning work as a metaphor for a sudden life-changing experience? What parallels can be drawn?
The speaker says the lightning “founds the homes and decks the days.” What does this suggest about the importance of pivotal moments in our lives?
The reverberation of the lightning is compared to “life’s reverberation.” What do you think the poem is saying about how impactful experiences continue to affect us long after they’re over?
The speaker says “I would not exchange the bolt / For all the rest of life.” What does this convey about the transformative power of lightning/pivotal moments?
The last two lines say these moments provide “explanations” for our lives. What explanation do you think is being referred to here?
The last line describes lightning as a “crash without a sound.” Why do you think the poet chose to describe this destructive force in this unusual way? What meaning are they trying to convey?

Let me know if you need any clarification or have additional questions! Analyzing poetry more deeply often requires slow, thoughtful reflection and discussion.

Biography

Because I could not stop for Death by Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was one of the most original and influential poets in American history. Though she lived

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.

We passed the school where children played,
Their lessons scarcely done;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.

We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.

Since then ‘t is centuries; but each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses’ heads
Were toward eternity.

###

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was one of the most original and influential poets in American history. Though she lived a largely reclusive life in Amherst, Massachusetts, she produced a body of work consisting of nearly 1,800 poems that contained unique creative expressions and broke from conventional writing styles of the 19th century. Dickinson was ahead of her time, pioneering unconventional capitalization and punctuation that gave her poems deeper layers of meaning. Though less than a dozen of her poems were published during her lifetime, Dickinson sent hundreds of poems to friends and family via letters. After her death, her pioneering style and mastery of themes like life, death, love, nature and spirituality cemented her place as one of the most important figures in American letters.

What Did I Love About Being Hungry by Fran Schumer

Fran Schumer’s poetry, fiction, and articles have appeared in various sections of The New York Times; also, Vogue, The Nation, The North American Review, and

What Did I Love About Being Hungry

by Fran Schumer

I fell in love with a kind I could cure
dreaming of Keebler cookies
in the aisles of Waldbaums
the happy elf on the package
my happy mother pushing the cart
with such force, such energy, such ardor.
She bowled cantaloupes down the counter
with an energy I lacked, me —
a stick in a sweater, my arms and legs blue

in the refrigerated aisles, me –
a size two in the puffy, expensive coat
the women bought to keep me warm
when I went away. I never came back.

My sister-in-law said I was spoiled.
She was right. Who would ever love me as much?
The tragedy of first, floating, amniotic love.
I never tasted those stupid, stale supermarket cookies,
fudge, peanut butter, plain, dumb vanilla.
Wanting is so much better than having

All my life I wanted her –
and all that remains is this hunger.

Fran Schumer’s poetry, fiction, and articles have appeared in various sections of The New York Times; also, Vogue, The Nation, The North American Review, and other publications. She won a Goodman Loan Grant Award for Fiction from the City University of New York and in 2021, a Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing poetry fellowship. In 2022, her poem, Memento Mori, was a winner of the Martha’s Vineyard Poet Laureate’s 2022 Contest. Her Chapbook, Weight, was the first runner up in the Jonathan Holden Poetry Chapbook Contest and was published in 2022 by Choeofpleirn Press. A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., she studied political science at college but wishes she had spent more time studying Keats.

Can You Eat the Ashes? by Ericka Clay

Ericka Clay is a published novelist and poet. As a former atheist turned believer, she seeks to write raw, real, relatable books that have

Can You Eat the Ashes?

by Ericka Clay

Pigs and pearls
and little girl dreams
and the nothing
more than what I’m not.
And you,
a
sharp-mouthed
word
birthed by an
empty
belly.
Your flint tongue
set the
grass on fire,
but can you
eat the
ashes?

Ericka Clay is a published novelist and poet. As a former atheist turned believer, she seeks to write raw, real, relatable books that have a heart for Jesus. She’s been awarded several times by Writer’s Digest for her short fiction pieces and is working on her latest novel, A Bird Alone (due to be published January 2024). She lives in Northwest Arkansas with her husband, daughter, and an insatiable need to push buttons, both figuratively and literally.

The old dog on New Year’s Eve by Vandana Kumar

Vandana Kumar is a French teacher, translator, recruitment consultant, Indie Film Producer, cinephile and poet residing in New Delhi, India.

The old dog on New Year’s Eve

by Vandana Kumar

The old dog on New Year’s Eve
Someday I shall be like that old dog
The one who has seen this city
In all its nakedness
Nothing interests him
He won’t budge
No matter how many times
And which lady of illusions, strips

On those nights of a fading December
I shall be that old dog
Under a rickety bridge
On the verge of collapse

I shall smirk
Seeing fools lined up
Those who think world peace will be sprinkled on them
In some New Year Eve’s confetti that flutters down

Someday I shall be that dog
A little too comfortable
With that worn out rug beneath
And nothing shall push me
To ask questions
From any regime

Someday I shall be that old dog
Not chasing a new car in the block
Someday I shall be stoic
Someday I shall be wise

Today the heart is open
Whimpering
Whining
Yelping
Today the heart is open
And a New Year’s window
Will let in the draught

Vandana Kumar is a French teacher, translator, recruitment consultant, Indie Film Producer, cinephile and poet residing in New Delhi, India. Her poems have been published in national and international websites, journals and anthologies of repute. She has been a part of seminal feminist anthologies like the Indie Blu(e) publication ‘The Kali Project’. Her cinema articles appear regularly in ‘Just-cinema’ and ‘The Daily Eye’. Her recent collection of poems ‘Mannequin Of Our Times’ (February 2023) – has been awarded the ‘The Panorama International Book Award 2023’.

ULALUME by Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was an American writer, poet, critic and editor best known for his tales of mystery and horror. He is considered a centra

ULALUME

by Edgar Allan Poe

The skies they were ashen and sober;
The leaves they were crispéd and sere,
The leaves they were withering and sere;
It was night in the lonesome October
Of my most immemorial year; 5
It was hard by the dim lake of Auber,
In the misty mid region of Weir:
It was down by the dank tarn of Auber,
In the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir.

Here once, through an alley Titanic 10
Of cypress, I roamed with my Soul—
Of cypress, with Psyche, my Soul.
These were days when my heart was volcanic
As the scoriac rivers that roll,
As the lavas that restlessly roll 15
Their sulphurous currents down Yaanek
In the ultimate climes of the pole,
That groan as they roll down Mount Yaanek
In the realms of the boreal pole.

Our talk had been serious and sober, 20
But our thoughts they were palsied and sere,
Our memories were treacherous and sere,
For we knew not the month was October,
And we marked not the night of the year,
(Ah, night of all nights in the year!) 25
We noted not the dim lake of Auber
(Though once we had journeyed down here),
Remembered not the dank tarn of Auber
Nor the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir.

And now, as the night was senescent 30
And star-dials pointed to morn,
As the star-dials hinted of morn,
At the end of our path a liquescent
And nebulous lustre was born,
Out of which a miraculous crescent 35
Arose with a duplicate horn,
Astarte’s bediamonded crescent
Distinct with its duplicate horn.

And I said—”She is warmer than Dian:
She rolls through an ether of sighs, 40
She revels in a region of sighs:
She has seen that the tears are not dry on
These cheeks, where the worm never dies,
And has come past the stars of the Lion
To point us the path to the skies, 45
To the Lethean peace of the skies:
Come up, in despite of the Lion,
To shine on us with her bright eyes:
Come up through the lair of the Lion,
With love in her luminous eyes.” 50

But Psyche, uplifting her finger,
Said—”Sadly this star I mistrust:
Her pallor I strangely mistrust:
Oh, hasten!—oh, let us not linger!
Oh, fly!—let us fly!—for we must.” 55
In terror she spoke, letting sink her
Wings until they trailed in the dust;
In agony sobbed, letting sink her
Plumes till they trailed in the dust,
Till they sorrowfully trailed in the dust. 60

I replied—”This is nothing but dreaming:
Let us on by this tremulous light!
Let us bathe in this crystalline light!
Its sibyllic splendor is beaming
With hope and in beauty to-night: 65
See, it flickers up the sky through the night!
Ah, we safely may trust to its gleaming,
And be sure it will lead us aright:
We safely may trust to a gleaming
That cannot but guide us aright, 70
Since it flickers up to Heaven through the night.”

Thus I pacified Psyche and kissed her,
And tempted her out of her gloom,
And conquered her scruples and gloom;
And we passed to the end of the vista, 75
But were stopped by the door of a tomb,
By the door of a legended tomb;
And I said—”What is written, sweet sister,
On the door of this legended tomb?”
She replied—”Ulalume—Ulalume— 80
‘T is the vault of thy lost Ulalume!”

Then my heart it grew ashen and sober
As the leaves that were crisped and sere,
As the leaves that were withering and sere,
And I cried—”It was surely October 85
On this very night of last year
That I journeyed—I journeyed down here,
That I brought a dread burden down here:
On this night of all nights in the year,
Ah, what demon has tempted me here? 90
Well I know, now, this dim lake of Auber,
This misty mid region of Weir:
Well I know, now, this dank tarn of Auber,
This ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir.”

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Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was an American writer, poet, critic and editor best known for his tales of mystery and horror. He is considered a central figure in the American Romantic movement and was one of the first American practitioners of the short story.

Poe was born in Boston to actress Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe and actor David Poe Jr. His father abandoned the family when Poe was a toddler and his mother died of tuberculosis when he was two, leaving him orphaned. He was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances in Richmond, Virginia.

Though never formally adopted, Poe took Allan as his middle name. He had a strained relationship with John Allan who did not support his literary ambitions. As a young man Poe attended the University of Virginia but was forced to drop out due to lack of funds.

His publishing career began in 1827 with the poetry collection Tamerlane and Other Poems. In 1835 he became editor of the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond. He later lived in Philadelphia working as editor for magazines like Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine and Graham’s Magazine.

It was during this time that Poe established himself as a critical reviewer and published many of his most famous stories, including “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Pit and the Pendulum,” and “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.”

Known for his Gothic, macabre themes and melancholic tone, Poe pioneered the modern detective story and helped define early science fiction. He married his cousin Virginia Clemm in 1836 who died of tuberculosis in 1847. Poe himself died under mysterious circumstances at the age of 40 in 1849.

Though not widely recognized during his lifetime, Poe’s stories and criticism have had a profound and lasting influence on American and international literature. He is now considered one of the most significant writers of the 19th century.