∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
[[v]]
[[n]]
Thou wast that all to me, love,
For which my soul did pine —
[[n]]
A green isle in the sea, love,
A fountain and a shrine,
5
[[v]]
All wreathed with fairy fruits and flowers,
[[v]]
And all the flowers were mine.
[[v]]
Ah, dream too bright to last!
[[v]]
Ah, starry Hope! that didst arise
But to be overcast!
10
A voice from out the Future cries,
[[v]]
“On! on!” — but o’er the Past
(Dim gulf!) my spirit hovering lies
Mute, motionless, aghast!
For, alas! alas! with me
15
[[v]]
The light of Life is o’er!
[[v]]
[[n]]
No more — no more — no more —
[[v]]
(Such language holds the solemn sea [page 78:]
To the sands upon the shore)
Shall bloom the thunder-blasted tree,
20
Or the stricken eagle soar!
[[v]]
[[n]]
And all my days are trances,
[[v]]
And all my nightly dreams
[[n]]
Are where thy grey eye glances,
And where thy footstep gleams —
25
[[n]]
In what ethereal dances,
[[v]]
By what eternal streams.
(1834)
[The following variants appear at the bottom of page 77:]
Title To Ianthe in Heaven (B. G. M.); omitted in G. L. B., S. L. M., Tales [1840], B.J. [June 7, 1845], the poem in these editions being incorporated in The Assignation.
1 that all: all that (all other texts save G. L. B., S. L. M., B. G. M., and B.J. [June 7, 1845]).
5 with fairy fruits and: round with wild (G. L. B.), around about with (S. L. M., B. G. M., Tales [1840]).
6 all the flowers: the flowers — they all (S. L. M., B. G. M., Tales [1840]).
7 But the dream — it could not last (G. L. B., S. L. M., B. G. M., Tales [1840]).
8 Ah: Oh (S. M.); Young hope! thou didst arise (G. L. B.); And the star of Hope did rise (S. L. M., B. G. M., Tales [1840]).
11 “On! on I” — but: Onward! while (G. L. B., S. L. M., B. G. M., Tales [1840]), Onward! — but (B.J. [June 7, 1845]).
15 The light of Life: Ambition — all (G. L. B., S. L. M., B. G. M., Tales [1840]).
16 Omitted in B.J. [May to, 1845].
17 solemn: breaking (G. L. B.).
[The following variants appear at the bottom of page 78:]
21 And: Now (B.J. [June 7, 1845]) ; days: hours (G.L.B., S.L.M., B. G. M., Tales [1840], B. J. [June 7, 1845]).
22 grey: dark (all other texts).
26 what: far (G. L. B.); eternal: Italian (G. L. B., S. L. M., Tales [1840], B. J. [June 7, 1845]). After this line, S.L.M., Tales [1840], and B.J. [June 7, 1845] add the following:
Alas! for that accursed time
They bore thee o’er the billow,
From Love to titled age and crime,
And an unholy pillow —
From me, and from our misty clime,
Where weeps the silver willow.
G. L. B. has the same, except that it reads me for Love in line 3, and Love for me in line 5.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Notes:
None.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
[S:0 - KCP, 1917] - Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - Works - To One in Paradise (ed. K. Campbell, 1917)