Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE VALLEY OF UNREST (1), by EDGAR ALLAN POE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE VALLEY OF UNREST (1), by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Far away - far away
Last Line: "over the hills and far away."
Variant Title(s): The Valley Nis
Subject(s): Imagination; Landscape; Fancy


Far away -- far away --
Far away -- as far at least
Lies that valley as the day
Down within the golden east --
All things lovely -- are not they
Far away -- far away?

It is called the valley Nis.
And a Syriac tale there is
Thereabout which Time hath said
Shall not be interpreted.
Something about Satan's dart --
Something about angel wings --
Much about a broken heart --
All about unhappy things:
But "the valley Nis" at best
Means "the valley of unrest."

Once it smiled a silent dell
Where the people did not dwell,
Having gone unto the wars --
And the sly mysterious stars,
With a visage full of meaning,
O'er the unguarded flowers were leaning:
Or the sun ray dripp'd all red
Thro' the tulips overhead,
Then grew paler as it fell
On the quiet Asphodel.

Now the unhappy shall confess
Nothing there is motionless:
Helen, like thy human eye
There th' uneasy violets lie --
There the reedy grass doth wave
Over the old forgotten grave --
One by one from the tree top
There the eternal dews do drop --
There the vague and dreamy trees
Do roll like seas in northern breeze
Around the stormy Hebrides --
There the gorgeous clouds do fly,
Rustling everlastingly,
Through the terror-stricken sky,
Rolling like a waterfall
O'er th' horizon's fiery wall --
There the moon doth shine by night
With a most unsteady light --
There the sun doth reel by day
"Over the hills and far away."





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