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[[n]]
In Heaven a spirit doth dwell
[[n]]
“Whose heart-strings are a lute;”
[[v]]
[[n]]
None sing so wildly well
As the angel Israfel,
5
[[v]]
[[n]]
And the giddy stars, (so legends tell)
Ceasing their hymns, attend the spell
Of his voice, all mute.
[[n]]
Tottering above
[[n]]
In her highest noon,
10
The enamoured moon
[[n]]
Blushes with love,
While, to listen, the red levin
[[v]]
[[n]]
(With the rapid Pleiads, even,
Which were seven,)
15
[[v]]
Pauses in Heaven.
And they say, (the starry choir
[[v]]
And the other listening things)
That Israfeli's fire [page 58:]
[[v]]
Is owing to that lyre
20
[[v]]
By which he sits and sings —
[[v]]
The trembling living wire
[[v]]
Of those unusual strings.
[[v]]
[[n]]
But the skies that angel trod,
Where deep thoughts are a duty —
25
[[v]]
[[n]]
Where Love's a grown-up God,
[[v]]
[[n]]
Where the Houri glances are
Imbued with all the beauty
[[v]]
Which we worship in a star.
[[v]]
[[n]]
Therefore, thou art not wrong,
30
Israfeli, who despisest
An unimpassioned song;
[[n]]
To thee the laurels belong,
[[n]]
Best bard, because the wisest!
[[v]]
Merrily live, and long!
The ecstasies above
35
With thy burning measures suit — [page 59:]
[[v]]
Thy grief, thy joy, thy hate, thy love,
[[n]]
With the fervor of thy lute —
Well may the stars be mute!
40
Yes, Heaven is thine; but this
Is a world of sweets and sours;
Our flowers are merely — flowers,
[[v]]
And the shadow of thy perfect bliss
Is the sunshine of ours.
45
[[v]]
[[n]]
If I could dwell
Where Israfel
Hath dwelt, and he where I,
[[v]]
He might not sing so wildly well
[[v]]
A mortal melody,
50
[[v]]
While a bolder note than this might swell
From my lyre within the sky.
(1831)
[The following variants appear at the bottom of page 57:]
Motto “And the angel Israfel who has the sweetest voice of all God's creature. — KORAN” (1831, S. L. M.); “And the angel Israfel, or Israfeli, whose heartstrings are a lute, and who is the most musical of all God's creatures. — KORAN” (Graham's). In B.J. the passage is credited to “Sale's Koran.”
3 wildly: wild — so (1831, S. L. M.).
5-7 And the giddy stars are mute (1831, S.L.M.).
13, 14 Omitted in 1831 and S. L. M.
15 Transposed in Graham's so as to follow line 12.
17 the other: all the (1831, S. L. M.).
[The following variants appear at the bottom of page 58:]
19 owing to: due unto (Graham's).
20, 21 Omitted in 1831 and S. L. M.
21 The: That (Graham's); wire: lyre (Graham's).
22 Of: With (1831, S.L.M., Graham's).
23 skies: Heavens (1831, S.L.M., Graham's).
25 Where: And (S. M., B.J.); Love ‘s a grown-up: Love is a grown (1831, S.L.M., Graham's).
26 Where: And (S. M., B.J.); the: omitted in 1831, S.L.M., and Graham's. After this line, 1831 inserts the following line:
— Stay! turn thine eyes afar!
28 a: yon (1831), the (Graham's). After this line, Graham's inserts the line:
The more lovely, the more jar!
29 Thou art not, therefore, wrong (1831, S. L. M., Graham's, S. M., B.J.)
34 Omitted in 1831 and S. L M.
[The following variants appear at the bottom of page 59:]
37 Thy grief — if any — thy love (1831, S. L. M.).
43 perfect: Omitted in 1831, S. L. M., and Graham's.
45 could: did (1831, S. L. M., Graham's).
45, 46 Printed as one line in 1831 and S.L.M.
48 might: would (1831, S. L. M.); so wildly: one half as (1831, S.L. M.), one half so (Graham's).
49 One half as passionately (1831, S. L. M.), One half so passionately (Graham's).
50 And a stormier note than this would swell (1831); And a loftier note than this would swell (S. L. M.).
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Notes:
None.
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[S:0 - KCP, 1917] - Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - Works - Israfel (ed. K. Campbell, 1917)