A Valentine Poem by Edgar Allan Poe

A Valentine

Rating: 3.3


For 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
Divine- a talisman- an amulet
That must be worn at heart. Search well the measure-
The words- the 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 poets- as the name is a poet's, too,
Its letters, although naturally lying
Like the knight Pinto- Mendez Ferdinando-
Still form a synonym for Truth- Cease trying!
You will not read the riddle, though you do the best you can do.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Bhaswat Chakraborty 13 April 2009

All I can say about this poem is that it is very 'Poe'-tic.

78 62 Reply
Jordyn Williamson 28 November 2011

I just love Poe's poems! They are breath-taking, intense, sad, cruel, lonely, dark, and horror. He's the perfect example for a gothic poet, and there will be no other. All his poems have different meanings, but if you look pass the words, you can see his past was like, and what he hoped and dreamed his future would be like. Agony and pain made Poe who he is; one of the best poets to ever live!

81 47 Reply
Jeanette Crisp-witherigton 25 January 2012

i love his poems soooo much!

57 52 Reply
James Frederick Caldwell 18 March 2010

@Bhaswat Chakraborty: Nice pun

46 61 Reply
celine charcoal 24 November 2004

you r ugly edgar, i m sorry for u

20 81 Reply
Penis IloveCOCK 01 December 2023

I lost my edging streak to this: (

0 0 Reply
leia vestman 01 June 2023

Poe wrote this for a specific woman, and her name is hidden within the poem. Her name is spelled with one letter on each line, the first letter of the first line (F) , the second letter of the second line (r) , the third letter of the third line (a) , and so on. It spells "Frances Sargent Osgood".

0 0 Reply
Igbudu Chijioke 16 September 2019

Such a lovely voice and poem i’m impressed so much more than anything else 👍😃🤩🤩🤩🤩

1 0 Reply
Ratnakar Mandlik 23 June 2019

" Eyes scintillating soul" , what a conceptualization and theme of the beautiful life song.? .

1 0 Reply
Kayode Are 10 February 2019

Except you understand the plot of the riddle of love, you wonder why the labour.

4 1 Reply
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