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Fragments, Trifles and Lost Poems

Words noted in brackets denote titles not given by Poe or other information added for clarification. Titles for nearly all of Poe's lost poems were assigned by T. O. Mabbott, whose 1969 edition of Poe's poems is the primary source of this information.

Fragments and Trifles:

• Title: "[Beautiful Physician, The]" (1847)

First Line: "The pulse beats ten and intermits..."
Status: Fragment, accepted
Argument: Variant title of "[The Beloved Physician]"

• Title: "[Beloved Physician, The]" (1847)

First Line: "The pulse beats ten and intermits..."
Status: Fragment, accepted
Argument: First attributed to Poe by J. H. Ingram, "Edgar Allan Poe's Last Poem, 'The Beautiful Physician'," Bookman, XXVIII, January 1909, pp. 452-454. T. O. Mabbott notes that the manuscript, which passed from Mrs. Shew (later Mrs. Houghton) to her son, the Reverend Henry Houghton, vanished about 1875. (Mabbott, Poems, pp. 401-404).

• Title: "[Couplet from "The Fall of the House of Usher"] (1839)

First Line: "Who entereth herein, a conqueror hath..."
Status: Trifle, accepted, absolutely
Argument: In Poe's tale "The Fall of the House of Usher," a key element is a book by Sir Launcelot Canning called The Mad Trist.  As the book  is a complete fabrication by Poe himself, created for narrative integrity within the story, these two lines read from it are actually by Poe. (Mabbott, Poems, p. 318-319.)

• Title: [Deep in Earth] (1847)

First Line: "Deep in earth my love is lying.."
Status: Trifle, accepted
Argument: These two lines are from a manuscript of Eulalie, where they are pencilled lightly in Poe's hand. They were first published by Victor H. Palsists in the Bulletin of the New York Public Library for December 1914. J. H. Whitty included the lines in his 1917 edition of Poe's poems, where he called them "Couplet." (Mabbott, Poems, p. 396.)

• Title: "[Epigram for Wall Street]" (1845)

First Line: "I'll tell you a plan for gaining wealth..."
Status: Trifle, accepted, with reservations
Argument: Published in the New York Evening Mirror for January 23, 1845, without any assigned author. Instead, it is introduced with a teasing question: "This is decidedly the best jeux d'esprit we have met in a year. Who did it? -- who?" T. O. Mabbott attributed the poem to Poe (Mabbott, Poems, p. 378). The poem embodies the sort of pun so typical of Poe's sense of humor. (If you fold your money, you will find it in creases.) In addition, Poe was fond of attracting the reader's attention to a piece by withholding the name of the author, especially for a minor item that might not attract much attention on its own.

• Title: "[Epigram from Pulci]" (1831?)

First Line: "Brethren, I come from lands afar"
Status: Trifle, accepted
Argument: Poe is known to be somewhat free in his quotations for mottoes. These two lines "translated by a modern satirist" appear to be by Poe himself. Indeed, no such lines have been found in the works of the Italian Pulci. Poe used the motto for his tale "The Bargain Lost," published in the Philadelphia Saturday Courier for December 1, 1832. (Mabbott, Poems, p. 211.)

• Title: "[Fragment of a Campaign Song]" (1844)

First Line: "See the White Eagle soaring aloft to the sky..."
Status: Fragment,  accepted
Argument: First published in the New York Times Saturday Review for March 4, 1899. The text comes from a recollection by Poe's friend Gabriel Harrison. Of the four surviving lines, Mabbott states confidently that their, ". . . authenticity is beyond doubt" (Mabbott, Poems, pp. 340-342).

• Title: "[Hexameter]" (1843)

First Line: "Man is a / complex..."
Status: Trifle, accepted, absolutely
Argument: This line is from Poe's essay "Notes Upon English Verse." published in the Boston Pioneer for March 1843. Poe reused it in his installment of "Marginalia" from Godey's Lady's Book for August 1845. (Mabbott, Poems, p. 339.)

• Title: "Impromptu -- To Kate Carol" (1845)

First Line: "When from your gems of thought..."
Status: Trifle, accepted, with reservations
Argument: Published in The Broadway Journal for April 26, 1845. Although the four lines are unsigned, Mabbott states that "No fairminded scholar should doubt they were Poe's" (Mabbott, Poems, pp. 379-380).

• Title: "[Latin Hymn]" (May 4, 1833)

First Line: "Mille, mille, mille" and translation "A thousand, a thousand, a thousand..."
Status: Trifle, accepted, positively
Argument: From Poe's tale "Epimanes."

• Title: "[Lines after Elizabeth Barrett]" (1845)

First Line: "Hear the steep generations, how they fall..."
Status: Trifle, accepted, absolutely
Argument: Poe wrote a two-part article on Elizabeth Barrett (later Elizabeth Barrett Browning) in The Broadway Journal for Jan 4 and 11, 1845. As part two of the review, Poe wrote these five lines as an improvement on her "Drama of Exile." (Mabbott, Poems, pp. 377-378).

• Title: "[Lines on Ale]" (1848 or 1849)

First Line: "Fill with mingled cream and amber..."
Status: Trifle, accepted, with reservations
Argument: First attributed to Poe by T. O. Mabbott, "Newly-Identified Verses by Poe," Notes & Queries, CLXXVII, July 29, 1939, pp. 77-78. The purported manuscript, supposedly hung for many years in a tavern, has been lost. Mabbott reprints the poem based on the memory of Mr. Jerry Murphy. The verses are reprinted, with notes, by Mabbott in his edition of Poe's poems (Mabbott, Poems, pp. 449-450).

• Title: "[Lines on Joe Locke]" (@1830-1831)

First Line: "As for Locke, he is all in my eye..."
Status: Trifle, accepted,  absolutely
Argument: These two stanzas were published as part of H. B. Hirst's article on Poe from the Philadelphia Saturday Museum for March 4, 1843. Poe supposedly wrote them while at West Point, poking fun at a fellow cadet. As Poe undoubtedly assisted Hirst with the information given in the article, the lines are certainly by his hand. (Mabbott, Poems, pp. 150-151.)

• Title: "[May Queen Ode]" (1836)

First Line: "Fairies guard the Queen of May"
Status: Fragment, accepted, with reservations
Argument: This fragment was first printed, based on the memory of Mrs. Harriet Virginia [Scott] Thompson, by James H. Whitty in his collection of Poe's poems (Whitty, Poems, 1917, p. 164). Mabbott accepts the verse as by Poe(Mabbott, Poems, p. 302).

• Title: "[Model Verses]" (1846)

First Line: "Virginal Lilian, rigidly, humblily . . ."
Status: Trifle, accepted, absolutely
Argument: (Mabbott, Poems, pp. 392-396.)

• Title: "[Motto for 'The Gold-Bug']" (1842)

First Line: "What ho! What ho! this fellow is . . ."
Status: Trifle, accepted, absolutely
Argument:

• Title: "[Motto for The Stylus]" (1843)

First Line: "---unbending that all men . . ."
Status: Trifle, accepted, absolutely
Argument:

• Title: "[Motto for 'William Wilson']" (1840)

First Line: "What say of it? what say of ..."
Status: Trifle, accepted, absolutely
Argument:

• Title: "[Parody on Drake]" (1836)

First Line: "His blue-bell helmet, we have heard..."
Status: Trifle, accepted
Argument: From Poe's article on "Drake-Halleck" from SLM, April, 1836.

• Title: "Poetry" (1824)

First Line: "Last night, with many cares and toils . . ."
Status: Trifle, accepted, absolutely
Argument: These two simple lines are Poe's earliest surviving manuscript poem. They are written on a page that John Allan, Poe's foster-father, used for business and which was filed with the Allan-Ellis papers, now in the Library of Congress. They were first recognized by Hervey Allen and published as part of his biography, Israfel: The Life and Times of Edgar Allan Poe, 1926. (Mabbott, Poems, pp. 5-6.)

• Title: "[Song of Triumph]" (May 4, 1833)

First Line: "Who is King but Epimanes..."
Status: Trifle, accepted
Argument: From Poe's tale "Epimanes".

• Title: "Spiritual Song" (1836)

First Line: "Hark, echo!--Hark echo..."
Status: Trifle, accepted
Argument: Mabbott states that he had a photograph of the manuscript, sent by William H. Koester. (Mabbott, Poems, pp. 303-304).

• Title: "[To Isaac Lea]" (1829)

First Line: "It was my choice or chance or curse . . ."
Status: Trifle, accepted, absolutely
Argument: Poe wrote these lines in a letter to Isaac Lea, written before May 27, 1829. (Mabbott, Poems, p. 147.)

Title: "To Margaret" (@Jan 1, 1827)
First Line: "Who hath seduced thee to this . . ."
Status:
Argument:

Lost Poems

• Title: "[An Early Satire]" (@1823

Status: Lost

• Title: "[Don Pompioso]" (@1820-1825)

Status: Lost

• Title: "[Epistola ad Magistrum]" (@1822)

Status: Lost

• Title: [Experimental Verses] (@1826)

Status: Lost

• Title: "[Farewell to Master Clarke]" (@1823)

Status: Lost

• Title: [Holy Eyes] (@1847)

Status: Lost

• Title: "[Lines to Richmond Schoolgirls]" (@1820-1823)

Status: Lost

• Title: "[Lines Written in a Contest]"

Status: Lost, apocryphal
Argument: Mabbott, Poems, 1969, pp. 501-502

• Title: "[Satire on the Junior Debating Society]" (@1825)

Status: Lost

• Title: "[To Elizabeth Winchester--Impromptu]" (1844)

Status: Lost

• Title: "[To Mary Starr]" (@1834)

Status: Lost

• Title: "[Translation from Tasso]" (@ Feb. 14, 1826)

Status: Lost