Song

I saw thee on thy bridal day-
When a burning blush came o'er thee,
Though happiness around thee lay,
The world all love before thee:

And in thine eye a kindling light
(Whatever it might be)
Was all on Earth my aching sight
Of Loveliness could see.

That blush, perhaps, was maiden shame-
As such it well may pass-
Though its glow hath raised a fiercer flame
In the breast of him, alas!

Who saw thee on that bridal day,
When that deep blush would come o'er thee,
Though happiness around thee lay;
The world all love before thee.


Edgar Allan Poe was the quintessential goth. However, unlike most of the pseudo-gothlings you see sulking in around the mall these days (wearing expensive leather jackets and Doc Martens that their yuppie parents bought for them), he had good reason to depressed. Everyone he ever loved either died or, as highlighted by this poem, simply abandoned him. It orginally appeared in Poe's first book of poems, Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827) as "To ______ ______", most likely refering to Poe's broken engagement to Elmira Royston. Much later, after she was widowed, they renewed their relationship, and eventually their engagement as well. Unfortunately, on October 7th, 1849, only a few days before the wedding, he died. I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

On a lighter note, let me present a rendition of this poem - as haiku:

You love your husband.
He loves you deeply as well.
It sucks to be me.


Source:
Edgar Allan Poe "Song" Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe Edward H. O'Neill
New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1994. pp. 21-22, and Textual Notes p. 1057

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