Edgar Allan Poe

 

THE POETRY OF EDGAR ALLAN POE

ISRAFEL


In Heaven a spirit doth dwell
"Whose heart-strings are a lute";
None sing so wildly well
As the angel Israfel,
And the giddy stars (so legends tell),
Ceasing their hymns, attend the spell
Of his voice, all mute.

Tottering above
In her highest noon,
The enamored moon
Blushes with love,
While, to listen, the red levin
(With the rapid Pleiads, even,
Which were seven,)
Pauses in Heaven.

And they say (the starry choir
And the other listening things)
That Israfeli's fire
Is owing to that lyre
By which he sits and sings-
The trembling living wire
Of those unusual strings.

But the skies that angel trod,
Where deep thoughts are a duty-
Where Love's a grown-up God-
Where the Houri glances are
Imbued with all the beauty
Which we worship in a star.

Therefore thou art not wrong,
Israfeli, who despisest
An unimpassioned song;
To thee the laurels belong,
Best bard, because the wisest!
Merrily live, and long!

The ecstasies above
With thy burning measures suit-
Thy grief, thy joy, thy hate, thy love,
With the fervor of thy lute-
Well may the stars be mute!

Yes, Heaven is thine; but this
Is a world of sweets and sours;
Our flowers are merely- flowers,
And the shadow of thy perfect bliss
Is the sunshine of ours.

If I could dwell
Where Israfel
Hath dwelt, and he where I,
He might not sing so wildly well
A mortal melody,
While a bolder note than this might swell
From my lyre within the sky.

 

 

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Edgar Allan Poe

LISTED ALPHABETICALLY

A

Al Aaraaf
Alone
Annabel Lee

B

The Bells
Bridal Ballad

C

The City in the Sea
The Coliseum
"The Conqueror Worm" (From Ligeia)

D

A Dream
Dreamland
Dreams
A Dream Within A Dream

E

Eldorado
Elizabeth
An Enigma
Eulalie
Evening Star

F

Fairyland
For Annie

H

"The Happiest Day"
The Haunted Palace
Hymn
Hymn to Aristogeiton and Harmodius

I

Imitation
"In Youth I Have Known One"
Israfel
"In the Greenest of Our Valleys"(From The Fall of the House of Usher)

L

The Lake
Lenore

R

The Raven
Romance

S

"Sancta Maria!"(From Morella)
Serenade
Silence
The Sleeper
Sonnet - To Science
Song
Spirits of the Dead
Stanzas

T

Tamerlane
To ...
To ...
To F...
F...s. S. O...d
To M...
To Marie Louise (Shew)
To M. L. S.
To my Mother
To Helen
To Helen
To One Departed
To One in Paradise
To the River
To Zante

U

Ulalume

V

A Valentine
The Valley of Unrest