2. Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809.
After his mother’s death, in 1811 he was adopted by
Mr. and Mrs. John Allan.
Went to the University of Virginia in 1826.
In 1827 , went to Boston and joined the U.S. Army.
In 1831, went to New York City where he had some of
his poetry published.
In 1836, married to Virginia.
Worked as an editor for Southern Literary Messenger
(1835), Graham's Magazine (1840), The Broadway Journal
(1845)
In 1847, Poe lost his wife, Virginia.
He died in the hospital, in Philadelphia , on Sunday,
October 7, 1849, either of congestion of the brain or
rabies.
3. Essay
The Most Famous
Works
" The Philosophy of Composition"(1846).
Poems
" The Raven"(1845), " Ulalume"(1847), " The Bells" (1849), " Eldorado"(1849), "
Annabell Lee"(1849) & so on.
Tales of terror
" The Fall of the House of Usher" (1839), " The Masque of the Red Death"(1842), " The
Pit and the Pendulum"(1842), " The Premature Burial" (1844) & so on.
Adventure story (science fiction)
" The Unparalleled Adventures of One Hans Pfaal" (1835)
Detective stories
" The Murders in the Rue Morgue"(1841), " The Mystery of Marie Roget" (1842), " The
Purloined Letter"(1844) & so on.
5. By a route obscure and lonely,
Haunted by ill angels only,
Where an Eidolon, named NIGHT,
On a black throne reigns upright,
I have reached these lands but newly
From an ultimate dim Thule—
From a wild clime that lieth, sublime,
Out of SPACE— out of TIME.
6. Bottomless vales and boundless floods,
And chasms, and caves, and Titan woods,
With forms that no man can discover
For the tears that drip all over;
Mountains toppling evermore
Into seas without a shore;
Seas that restlessly aspire,
Surging, unto skies of fire;
Lakes that endlessly outspread
Their lone waters— lone and dead,—
Their still waters— still and chilly
With the snows of the lolling lily.
7. By the lakes that thus outspread
Their lone waters, lone and dead,—
Their sad waters, sad and chilly
With the snows of the lolling lily,—
By the mountains— near the river
Murmuring lowly, murmuring ever,—
By the grey woods,— by the swamp
Where the toad and the newt encamp—
By the dismal tarns and pools
8. Where dwell the Ghouls,—
By each spot the most unholy—
In each nook most melancholy—
There the traveller meets aghast
Sheeted Memories of the Past—
Shrouded forms that start and sigh
As they pass the wanderer by—
White—robed forms of friends long given,
In agony, to the Earth— and Heaven.
9. For the heart whose woes are legion
'Tis a peaceful, soothing region—
For the spirit that walks in shadow
'Tis— oh, 'tis an Eldorado!
But the traveler, travelling through it,
May not— dare not openly view it!
Never its mysteries are exposed
To the weak human eye unclosed;
So wills its King, who hath forbid
The uplifting of the fringed lid;
And thus the sad Soul that here passes
Beholds it but through darkened glasses.
10. By a route obscure and lonely,
Haunted by ill angels only,
Where an Eidolon, named NIGHT,
On a black throne reigns upright,
I have wandered home but newly
From this ultimate dim Thule.
11. Literary and Philosophical References
• Ultima Thule (line 6): In ancient times, this referred to the most northern
part of the world. Ultima means "farthest" in Latin. "Thule" was the name
for an island in the North, maybe the place we call Iceland now. So Ultima
Thule meant beyond Thule, at the edge of the world. Over time, people
started to use it to refer to any mysterious and far-off destination. For
Poe, then, it means a place that's unimaginably far away.
• Eldorado (line 42): This is a mythical city of gold. The Spanish
conquistador Francisco Pizarro went looking for this city in 1541.
12. Rhyme Scheme
By a route obscure and lonely, A
Haunted by ill angels only, A
Where an Eidolon, named NIGHT, B
On a black throne reigns upright, B
I have reached these lands but newly, C
From an ultimate dim Thule, C
