Page:Edgar Poe and his critics.djvu/53

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Edgar Poe and his Critics.
51

On desperate seas long wont to roam,
Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face,
Thy Naiad airs have brought me home
To the glory that was Greece,
To the grandeur that was Rome.

Lo! in yon brilliant window niche,
How statue-like I see thee stand,
The agate lamp within thy hand!
Ah, Psyche, from the regions which
Are Holy Land!”

In a letter now before us, written within a twelve-month of his death, Edgar Poe speaks of the love which inspired these verses as “the one, idolatrous, and purely ideal love” of his passionate boyhood.

In one of the numbers of Russell’s Magazine there is a transcript of the first published version of the exquisite poem entitled “Lenore,” commencing

Ah broken is the golden bowl! the spirit flown forever,
Let the bell toll! a saintly soul floats on the Stygian river.”