From the silver, tinkling throats
Of the bells, bells, bells—
Of the bells!
II
The bells!—ah, the bells!
The heavy iron bells!
How horrible a monody there floats
From their throats—
From their deep-toned throats—
From their melancholy throats!
How I shudder at the notes
Of the bells, bells, bells—
Of the bells!
In the autumn of Poe added another line to this poem, and sent it to the editor of the Union Magazine. It was not published. So, in the following February, the poet forwarded to the same periodical a much enlarged and altered transcript. Three months having elapsed without publication, another revision of the poem, similar to the current version, was sent, and in was published in the Union Magazine. ↩
Although “Eldorado” was published during Poe’s lifetime, in , in the Flag of Our Union, it does not appear to have ever received the author’s finishing touches. ↩
“An Enigma,” addressed to Mrs. Sarah Anna Lewis (“Stella”), was sent to that lady in a letter, in , and the following March appeared in Sartain’s Union Magazine.
To discover the names in this poem read the first letter of the first line in connection with the second letter of the second line, the third letter of the third line, the fourth of the fourth and so on to the end. ↩
“To Helen” (Mrs. S. Helen Whitman) was not published until , although written several months earlier. It first appeared in the Union Magazine, and with the omission, contrary to the knowledge or desire of Poe, of the line, “Oh, God! oh, Heaven—how my heart beats in coupling those two words.” ↩
“Annabel Lee” was written early in , and is evidently an expression of the poet’s undying love for his deceased bride, although at least one of his lady admirers deemed it a response to her admiration. Poe sent a copy of the ballad to the Union Magazine, in which publication it appeared in January, 1850, three months after the author’s death. While suffering from “hope deferred” as to its fate, Poe presented a copy of “Annabel Lee” to the editor of the Southern Literary Messenger, who published it in the number of his periodical, a month after Poe’s death. In the meantime the poet’s own copy, left among his papers, passed into the hands of the person engaged to edit his works, and he quoted the poem in an obituary of Poe, in the New York Tribune, before anyone else had an opportunity of publishing it. ↩
“For Annie” was first published in the Flag of Our Union, in the spring of . Poe, annoyed at some misprints in this issue, shortly afterwards caused a corrected copy to be inserted in the Home Journal. ↩
The sonnet, “To My Mother” (Maria Clemm), was sent for publication to the short-lived Flag of Our Union, early in , but does not appear to have been issued until after its author’s death, when it appeared in the Leaflets of Memory for .
The poem was addressed to the poet’s mother-in-law, Mrs. Clemm —Ed. ↩
“To F⸺s S. O⸺d,” a portion of the poet’s triune tribute to Mrs. Osgood, was published in the Broadway Journal for . The earliest version of these lines appeared in the Southern Literary Messenger for , as “Lines Written in an Album,” and was addressed to Eliza White, the proprietor’s daughter. Slightly revised, the poem reappeared in Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine for , as “To ⸻.” ↩
Colophon
Poetry
was compiled from poetry published between 1827 and 1845 by
Edgar Allan Poe.
This ebook was produced for
Standard Ebooks
by
Robin Whittleton,
and is based on transcriptions from
various sources
and on digital scans from the
Internet Archive.
The cover page is adapted from
Melancholy,
a painting completed in 1876 by
Odilon Redon.
The cover and title pages feature the
League Spartan and Sorts Mill Goudy
typefaces created in 2014 and 2009 by
The League of Moveable Type.
The first edition of this ebook was released on
May 30, 2023, 6:39 p.m.
You can check for updates to this ebook, view its revision history, or download it for different ereading systems at
standardebooks.org/ebooks/edgar-allan-poe/poetry.
The volunteer-driven Standard Ebooks project relies on readers like you to submit typos, corrections, and other improvements. Anyone can contribute at standardebooks.org.
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