Spirits of the Dead by Edgar Allan Poe

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend July 12, 2014   Spirits of the Dead   Edgar Allan Poe

Thy soul shall find itself alone ‘Mid dark thoughts of the grey tomb-stone; Not one, of all the crowd, to pry Into thine hour of secrecy. Be silent in that solitude, Which is not loneliness—for then The spirits of the dead, who stood In life before thee, are again In death around thee, and their will Shall overshadow thee; be still. The night, though clear, shall frown, And the stars shall not look down From their high thrones in the Heaven With light like hope to mortals given, But their red orbs, without beam, To thy weariness shall seem As a burning and a fever Which would cling to thee for ever. Now are thoughts thou shalt not banish, Now are visions ne’er to vanish; From thy spirit shall they pass No more, like dew-drop from the grass. The breeze, the breath of God, is still, And the mist upon the hill Shadowy, shadowy, yet unbroken, Is a symbol and a token. How it hangs upon the trees, A mystery of mysteries!            This poem is in the public domain. About This Poem   “Spirits of the Dead” by Edgar Allan Poe was initially titled “Visits of the Dead" when it was first published in Poe’s collection Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827).   Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Poe’s work as an editor, poet, and critic had a profound impact on American and international literature, and his short stories position him as one of the originators of both horror and detective fiction. Poe died on October 7, 1849. Poetry by Poe   Great Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe (Simon & Schuster, 2007) “Ghost” by Paul Mariani “At Night” by Yone Noguchi “Blue Oxen” by Dara Wier Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038