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Poe, Edgar Allen

"Criticism"


Farewell, farewell, fair Ines,
That vessel never bore
So fair a lady on its deck,
Nor danced so light before,-
Alas for pleasure on the sea,
And sorrow on the shore!
The smile that blest one lover's heart
Has broken many more!
"The Haunted House," by the same author, is one of the truest
poems ever written,- one of the truest, one of the most
unexceptionable, one of the most thoroughly artistic, both in its
theme and in its execution. It is, moreover, powerfully ideal-
imaginative. I regret that its length renders it unsuitable for the
purposes of this lecture. In place of it permit me to offer the
universally appreciated "Bridge of Sighs":-
One more Unfortunate,
Weary of breath,
Gone to her death!
Take her up tenderly,
Lift her with care,-
Fashion'd so slenderly,
Young and so fair!
Look at her garments
Clinging like cerements;
Whilst the wave constantly
Drips from her clothing;
Take her up instantly,
Loving, not loathing.
Touch her not scornfully,
Think of her mournfully,
Gently and humanly,
Not of the stains of her,
All that remains of her
Now is pure womanly.


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