The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe/Volume 2/To F——

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The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe Volume II. Poems and Tales To F——

Scenes from "Politian"→

Published by the Broadway Journal twice in 1845 - once in the April issue then cut down to four lines in the September 6 issue with the more revealing title "To Frances.", referring to Frances S. Osgood. It was actually a re-working of "To M——," first published in the Southern Literary Messenger's July 1835 issue. It was also revised into "To One Departed," printed in Graham's Magazine, March 1842, before it was ever addressed to Frances Osgood.

 

TO F——.

 

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Beloved! amid the earnest woes  That crowd around my earthly path— (Drear path, alas! where grows Not even one lonely rose)—  My soul at least a solace hath In dreams of thee, and therein knows An Eden of bland repose.   And thus thy memory is to me  Like some enchanted far-off isle In some tumultuous sea— Some ocean throbbing far and free  With storms—but where meanwhile Serenest skies continually  Just o'er that one bright island smile.