Essential Tales And Poems Of Edgar Allan Poe Part 3

Ulalume: A Ballad The skies they were ashen and sober; The leaves they were crisped and sere- The leaves they were withering and sere; It was night in the lonesome October Of my most immemorial year; 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.6

Here once, through an alley t.i.tanic, Of cypress, I roamed with my Soul- Of cypress, with Psyche, my Soul7 These were days when my heart was volcanic As the scoriac rivers that roll- As the lavas that restlessly roll 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.8

Our talk had been serious and sober, 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!) We noted not the dim lake of Auber- (Though once we had journeyed down here)- We remembered not the dank tarn of Auber, Nor the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir.

And now, as the night was senescentr And star-dials pointed of morn- As the star-dials hinted of morn- At the end of our path a liquescents And nebulous l.u.s.tre was born, Out of which a miraculous crescent Arose with a duplicate horn- Astarte's bediamonded crescent bediamonded crescent Distinct with its duplicate horn.

And I said-"She is warmer than Dian: She rolls through an ether of sighs- 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 Lion9 To point us the path to the skies- To the Lethean peacellof the skies- Come up, in despite of the Lion, To s.h.i.+ne on us with her bright eyes- Come up through the lair of the Lion With love in her luminous eyes."

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."

In terror she spoke, letting sink her Wings till 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.

I replied-"This is nothing but dreaming: Let us on by this tremulous light!

Let us bathe in this crystalline light!

Its Sybillict splendor is beaming splendor is beaming With Hope and in Beauty to-night:- 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, 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 pa.s.sed to the end of the vista, And 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- 'Tis 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 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, Oh, what demon has tempted me here?

Well I know, now, this dim lake of Auber- This misty mid region of Weir- Well I know, now, this dank tarn of Auber, In the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir."

Said we, then-the two, then-"Ah, can it Have been that the woodlandish ghouls- The pitiful, the merciful ghouls- To bar up our way and to ban it From the secret that lies in these wolds- From the thing that lies hidden in these wolds- Had drawn up the spectre of a planet From the limbo of lunary souls- This sinfully scintillant planet From the h.e.l.l of the planetary souls?"

The Bells I.

Hear the sledges with the bells- Silver bells!

What a world of merriment their melody foretells!

How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, In the icy air of night!

While the stars that oversprinkle All the heavens, seem to twinkle With a crystalline delight; Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runicu rhyme, rhyme, To the tintinabulationv that so musically wells that so musically wells From the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells- From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.

II.

Hear the mellow wedding bells, Golden bells!

What a world of happiness their harmony foretells!

Through the balmy air of night How they ring out their delight!

From the molten-golden notes, And all in tune, What a liquid ditty floats To the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats On the moon!

Oh, from out the sounding cells, What a gush of euphony voluminously wells!

How it swells!

How it dwells

On the Future! how it tells Of the rapture that impels To the swinging and the ringing Of the bells, bells, bells, Of the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells- To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells!

III.

Hear the loud alarum bells- Brazen bells!

What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells!

In the startled car of night How they scream out their affright!

Too much horrified to speak, They can only shriek, shriek, Out of tune, In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire, In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire Leaping higher, higher, higher, With a desperate desire, And a resolute endeavor Now-now to sit or never, By the side of the pale-faced moon.

Oh, the bells, bells, bells!

What a tale their terror tells Of Despair!

How they clang, and clash, and roar!

What a horror they outpour On the bosom of the palpitating air!

Yet the ear it fully knows, By the tw.a.n.ging, And the clanging, How the danger ebbs and flows; Yet the ear distinctly tells, In the jangling, And the wrangling, How the danger sinks and swells, By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells- Of the bells- Of the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells- In the clamor and the clangor of the bells!

IV.

Hear the tolling of the bells- Iron bells!

What a world of solemn thought their monody compels!

In the silence of the night, How we s.h.i.+ver with affright At the melancholy menace of their tone!

For every sound that floats From the rust within their throats Is a groan.

And the people-ah, the people- They that dwell up in the steeple, All alone, And who tolling, tolling, tolling, In that m.u.f.fled monotone, Feel a glory in so rolling On the human heart a stone- They are neither man nor woman- They are neither brute nor human- They are Ghouls:w And their king it is who tolls; And he rolls, rolls, rolls, Rolls A paean from the bells!

And his merry bosom swells With the paean of the bells!

And he dances, and he yells; Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the paean of the bells- Of the bells: Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the throbbing of the bells-

Of the bells, bells, bells- To the sobbing of the bells; Keeping time, time, time, As he knells, knells, knells, In a happy Runic rhyme, To the rolling of the bells- Of the bells, bells, bells- To the tolling of the bells, Of the bells, bells, bells, bells- Bells, bells, bells- To the moaning and the groaning of the bells.

A Dream within a Dream Take this kiss upon the brow!

And, in parting from you now, Thus much let me avow- You are not wrong, who deem That my days have been a dream; Yet if hope has flown away In a night, or in a day, In a vision, or in none, Is it therefore the less gone? gone?

All that we see or seem Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar Of a surf-tormented sh.o.r.e, And I hold within my hand Grains of the golden sand- How few! yet how they creep Through my fingers to the deep, While I weep-while I weep!

O G.o.d! can I not grasp Them with a tighter clasp?

O G.o.d! can I not save One from the pitiless wave? from the pitiless wave?

Is all all that we see or seem that we see or seem But a dream within a dream?

Eldorado Gaily bedight, A gallant knight, In suns.h.i.+ne and in shadow, Had journeyed long, Singing a song, In search of Eldorado.x

But he grew old- This knight so bold- And o'er his heart a shadow Fell, as he found No spot of ground That looked like Eldorado.

And, as his strength Failed him at length He met a pilgrim shadow- "Shadow;" said he, "Where can it be- This land of Eldorado?"

"Over the Mountains Of the Moon,y Down the Valley of the Shadow, Ride, boldly ride,"

The shade replied,- "If you seek for Eldorado!"

Annabel Lee It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of ANNABEL LEE; And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child, was a child and she was a child, In this kingdom by the sea: But we loved with a love that was more than love- I and my ANNABEL LEE; With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago, In this kingdom by the sea, A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling My beautiful ANNABEL LEE; So that her high-born kinsman came And bore her away from me, To shut her up in a sepulchre In this kingdom by the sea.