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The poems of Edgar Allan Poe

Chapter 54: SONG
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About This Book

A curated volume of lyrical and narrative verse that repeatedly returns to themes of loss, mourning, and yearning for unattainable beauty. The poems rely on precise meter, inventive rhyme, and vivid gothic and dreamlike imagery to produce a haunting musicality. Selections range from intimate, tender lyrics to ornate, macabre narratives, alternating elegiac reflection with dramatic tableaux. An introductory essay and decorative illustrations frame the poems and connect their emotional intensity to the poet’s temperament and critical reception.


SONG

I saw thee on thy bridal day—
When a burning blush came o’er thee,
Though happiness around thee lay,
The world all love before thee:
And in thine eye a kindling light
(Whatever it might be)
Was all on Earth my aching sight
Of loveliness could see.
That blush, perhaps, was maiden shame—
As such it well may pass—
Though its glow hath raised a fiercer flame
In the breast of him, alas!
Who saw thee on that bridal day,
When that deep blush would come o’er thee,
Though happiness around thee lay,
The world all love before thee.