Classic and Contemporary Poetry
DREAMLAND, by EDGAR ALLAN POE Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: By a route obscure and lonely Last Line: From this ultimate dim thule. Variant Title(s): Dream-land | ||||||||
By a route obscure and lonely, Haunted by ill angels only, Where an eidolon, named Night, On a black throne reigns upright, I have reached these lands but newly From an ultimate dim Thule -- From a wild weird clime that lieth, sublime, Out of space -- out of time. Bottomless vales and boundless floods, And chasms, and caves, and titan woods, With forms that no man can discover For the tears that drip all over; Mountains toppling evermore Into seas without a shore; Seas that restlessly aspire, Surging, unto skies of fire; Lakes that endlessly outspread Their lone waters, lone and dead, -- Their still waters, still and chilly With the snows of the lolling lily. By the lakes that thus outspread Their lone waters, lone and dead, -- Their sad waters, sad and chilly With the snows of the lolling lily, -- By the mountains -- near the river Murmuring lowly, murmuring ever, -- By the gray woods, -- by the swamp Where the toad and the newt encamp, -- By the dismal tarns and pools Where dwell the ghouls, -- By each spot the most unholy -- In each nook most melancholy, -- There the traveler meets, aghast, Sheeted memories of the past -- Shrouded forms that start and sigh As they pass the wanderer by -- White-robed forms of friends long given, In agony, to the earth -- and heaven. For the heart whose woes are legion 'Tis a peaceful, soothing region -- For the spirit that walks in shadow 'Tis -- oh, 'tis an Eldorado! But the traveler, traveling through it, May not -- dare not openly view it; Never its mysteries are exposed To the weak human eye unclosed; So wills its king, who hath forbid The uplifting of the fringed lid; And thus the sad soul that here passes Beholds it but through darkened glasses. By a route obscure and lonely, Haunted by ill angels only, Where an eidolon, named Night, On a black throne reigns upright, I have wandered home but newly From this ultimate dim Thule. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ANNABEL LEE by EDGAR ALLAN POE BRIDAL BALLAD by EDGAR ALLAN POE CATHOLIC HYMN by EDGAR ALLAN POE EULALIE; A SONG by EDGAR ALLAN POE |
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