Poems by Edgar Allan Poe

An unpublished 9-line poem written circa 1829 for Poe's cousin Elizabeth Rebecca Herring (the acrostic is her first name, spelled out by the first letter of each line).

The speaker of the poem talks about a lost love, Annabel Lee, and may have been based on Poe's own relationship with his wife Virginia, though that is disputed.

"The Beloved Physician" was written around April 1847 for Mary-Louise Shew, a nurse who also inspired Poe's more famous poem, "The Bells".

Shew was able to recall about a tenth of a poem in a letter to editor John W. Ingham in 1875; these fragments were published in 1909, and appear to be all that remains of the piece.

[5] Poe biographer Daniel Hoffman says that "Bridal Ballad" is guilty of "one of the most unfortunate rhymes in American poetry this side of Thomas Holley Chivers".

He is referring to the name of the bride's dead lover, "D'Elormie", which he calls "patently a forced rhyme" for "o'er me" and "before me" in the previous lines.

Marie Louise Shew (Virginia's one-time volunteer nurse, of sorts) later said that Poe called Lewis a "fat, gaudily-dressed woman."

The humorous poem of four rhyming couplets tells savvy people interested in gaining wealth to avoid investments and banks.

Originally titled "Heaven," "Fairy-Land" was written while Poe was at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Poe first offered the poem to Nathaniel Parker Willis, who wrote in an edition of "The Editor's Table" of the American Monthly of how he threw the submission into the fire and joyfully watched it burn.

[25] The poem was first set to be published on April 28, 1849 in the journal Flag of our Union, which Poe said was a "paper for which sheer necessity compels me to write."

T. O. Mabbott felt that the rather tepid value of this slightly edited version of the poem suggests that they were made by William Henry, though perhaps with Edgar's approval.

This 16-line poem was sung by the title character in Poe's short story Morella, first published in April 1835 in the Southern Literary Messenger.

Choral composer Jonathan Adams included "Hymn" as part of his Three Songs from Edgar Allan Poe written for chorus and piano in 1993.

Kate Carol was a pseudonym for Frances Sargent Osgood, a woman with whom Poe exchanged love notes published in journals.

The more direct inspiration for Poe's introductory quotation comes from Thomas Moore's Lalla Rookh, which itself footnotes George Sale's introduction to his 1734 translation of the Quran: "The angel Israfil, who has the most melodious voice of all God's creatures.

"[33][34] The poem details the beauty of the unearthly song of Israfil, as stars and other heavenly bodies stand transfixed in muted silence.

Poe further alludes to Islam by referencing a Houri as another heavenly entity entrapped amidst the majesty of Israfil's lyre.

[citation needed] The poem concludes with the author wondering as to whether if their places traded, he could craft a bolder melody from his lyre than Israfil.

The poem parallels Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Kubla Khan" in the inspiring yet ultimately unfulfilling song of a heavenly muse.

"Lines on Joe Locke" was a short, two stanza poem written to make fun of a commanding officer during Poe's time at West Point.

This phrase, which is commonly used to criticize present-day customs and attitudes, helps illustrate Poe's opinion that many men and politicians (during his lifetime) act as if they have no manners.

Another poem with the title "Stanzas" was published in the Graham's Magazine in December 1845 and signed "P." It was attributed to Poe based on a copy owned by Frances Osgood, on which she had pencilled notes.

The first, consisting of 12 lines, was reprinted in the September 20, 1845, issue of the Broadway Journal and deals with the speaker's loss which leaves him with "a funeral mind".

It was then published in a revised version in the September 1835 issue of the Southern Literary Messenger as "Lines Written in an Album" and apparently addressed to Eliza White.

It seems to come from a letter Poe wrote to Isaac Lea, noted as a publishing partner in Philadelphia who was interested in natural history, especially conchology.

The seven-line poem, according to Poe's notes, refers to John Milton's Paradise Lost, William Shakespeare, and Alexander Pope.

Written in 1847 for Marie Louise Shew, voluntary nurse of Poe's wife Virginia, it was not published until March 1848 in Columbian Magazine as "To —— ——".

The poem, which may be incomplete, tells of the speaker's unrequited love for Octavia being so strong, even "wit, and wine, and friends" can not distract him from it.

First published in the New York Evening Mirror's February 21, 1846 issue, "A Valentine" was written specifically for Frances Sargent Osgood, whose name is hidden within the lines of the poem.