Edgar Allan Poe

Al Aaraaf

PART I

O! nothing earthly save the ray

(Thrown back from flowers) of Beauty's eye,

As in those gardens where the day

Springs from the gems of Circassy-

O! nothing earthly save the thrill

Of melody in woodland rill-

Or (music of the passion-hearted)

Joy's voice so peacefully departed

That like the murmur in the shell,

Its echo dwelleth and will dwell-

Oh, nothing of the dross of ours-

Yet all the beauty- all the flowers

That list our Love, and deck our bowers-

Adorn yon world afar, afar-

The wandering star.

'Twas a sweet time for Nesace- for there

Her world lay lolling on the golden air,

Near four bright suns- a temporary rest-

An oasis in desert of the blest.

Away- away- 'mid seas of rays that roll

Empyrean splendor o'er th' unchained soul-

The soul that scarce (the billows are so dense)

Can struggle to its destin'd eminence,-

To distant spheres, from time to time, she rode

And late to ours, the favor'd one of God-

But, now, the ruler of an anchor'd realm,

She throws aside the sceptre- leaves the helm,

And, amid incense and high spiritual hymns,

Laves in quadruple light her angel limbs.

Now happiest, loveliest in yon lovely Earth,

Whence sprang the 'Idea of Beauty' into birth,

(Falling in wreaths thro' many a startled star,

Like woman's hair 'mid pearls, until, afar,

It lit on hills Achaian, and there dwelt)

She looked into Infinity- and knelt.

Rich clouds, for canopies, about her curled-

Fit emblems of the model of her world-

Seen but in beauty- not impeding sight

Of other beauty glittering thro' the light-

A wreath that twined each starry form around,

And all the opal'd air in color bound.

All hurriedly she knelt upon a bed

Of flowers: of lilies such as rear'd the head

On the fair Capo Deucato, and sprang

So eagerly around about to hang

Upon the flying footsteps of- deep pride-

Of her who lov'd a mortal- and so died.

The Sephalica, budding with young bees,

Upreared its purple stem around her knees:-

And gemmy flower, of Trebizond misnam'd-