Poe: Lenore

Oct 21, 2022

Lenore

Edgar Allan Poe

Published in 1843

Ah broken is the golden bowl! the spirit flown forever!
Let the bell toll!--a saintly soul floats on the Stygian river;
And, Guy De Vere, hast thou no tear?--weep now or never more!
See! on yon drear and rigid bier low lies thy love, Lenore!
Come! let the burial rite be read--the funeral song be sung!--
An anthem for the queenliest dead that ever died so young--
A dirge for her the doubly dead in that she died so young.

"Wretches! ye loved her for her wealth and hated her for her pride,
"And when she fell in feeble health, ye blessed her--that she died!
"How shall the ritual, then, be read?--the requiem how be sung
"By you--by yours, the evil eye,--by yours, the slanderous tongue
"That did to death the innocent that died, and died so young?"

Peccavimus; but rave not thus! and let a Sabbath song
Go up to God so solemnly the dead may feel so wrong!
The sweet Lenore hath "gone before," with Hope, that flew beside
Leaving thee wild for the dear child that should have been thy bride--
For her, the fair and debonair, that now so lowly lies,
The life upon her yellow hair but not within her eyes--
The life still there, upon her hair--the death upon her eyes.

"Avaunt! to-night my heart is light. No dirge will I upraise,
"But waft the angel on her flight with a Pæan of old days!
"Let no bell toll!--lest her sweet soul, amid its hallowed mirth,
"Should catch the note, as it doth float up from the damnéd Earth.
"To friends above, from fiends below, the indignant ghost is riven--
"From Hell unto a high estate far up within the Heaven--
"From grief and groan, to a golden throne, beside the King of Heaven."

Coming soon to Edgar Allan Poe Daily:

10/31: a Special Announcement!

Editor’s Note: Today is the last weekday without a Dracula Daily until the end of the book, and thus the last regularly scheduled Poe Daily update.

Thank you all so much for reading along! This originally began as an idea I had lying in bed, “Hey it would be cool to have something to read and talk about on days Dracula doesn’t update. I wonder how hard is it to make a Substack?” And here we are, most of a year and many stories and poems later!

On Halloween, Monday 10/31 I’ll announce the future plans for Poe Daily and the new name. (Spoiler Alert: Poe is staying, but the frequency of publication will change.)

I hope you’ve all enjoyed this year of gothic literature, and I really do appreciate everyone letting me barge into your inbox.

Do you love Edgar Allan Poe Daily, and want to support the person who edits and publishes it? Please pledge to my Patreon!

Did you miss an earlier story? Want to read all of the previous Poe Daily updates? Visit the Archive!