A VALENTINE
by: Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)
- or her this rhyme is penned, whose luminous eyes,
- Brightly expressive as the twins of Leda,
- Shall find her own sweet name, that, nestling lies
- Upon the page, enwrapped from every reader.
- Search narrowly the lines!they hold a treasure
- Divinea talismanan amulet
- That must be worn at heart. Search well the measure
- The wordsthe syllables! Do not forget
- The trivialest point, or you may lose your labor!
- And yet there is in this no Gordian knot
- Which one might not undo without a sabre,
- If one could merely comprehend the plot.
- Enwritten upon the leaf where now are peering
- Eyes scintillating soul, there lie perdus
- Three eloquent words oft uttered in the hearing
- Of poets by poetsas the name is a poet's, too.
- Its letters, although naturally lying
- Like the knight PintoMendez Ferdinando
- Still form a synonym for TruthCease trying!
- You will not read the riddle, though you do the best you can do.
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POEMS BY EDGAR ALLAN POE |
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