1834

TO ONE IN PARADISE

by Edgar Allan Poe

TO ONE IN PARADISE -

Thou wast all that to me, love,

For which my soul did pine-

A green isle in the sea, love,

A fountain and a shrine,

All wreathed with fairy fruits and flowers,

And all the flowers were mine. -

Ah, dream too bright to last!

Ah, starry Hope! that didst arise

But to be overcast!

A voice from out the Future cries,

"On! on!"- but o'er the Past

(Dim gulf!) my spirit hovering lies

Mute, motionless, aghast! -

For, alas! alas! with me

The light of Life is o'er!

"No more- no more- no more-"

(Such language holds the solemn sea

To the sands upon the shore)

Shall bloom the thunder-blasted tree

Or the stricken eagle soar! -

And all my days are trances,

And all my nightly dreams

Are where thy grey eye glances,

And where thy footstep gleams-

In what ethereal dances,

By what eternal streams. - -