Text: Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane” (Comparative Text - TAOP, Wilmer-MS and ATMP)


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Texts Represented:


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[[In Preparation]]

{{1827-01:

Stanza: I.

Line-01-001 [[indent]] I have sent for thee, holy friar; (1)

Line-01-002 But ’twas not with the drunken hope,

Line-01-003 Which is but agony of desire

Line-01-004 To shun the fate, with which to cope

Line-01-005 Is more than crime may dare to dream,

Line-01-006 That I have call’d thee at this hour:

Line-01-007 Such father is not my theme —

Line-01-008 Nor am I mad, to deem that power

Line-01-009 Of earth may shrive me of the sin

Line-01-010 Unearthly pride hath revell’d in —

Line-01-011 I would not call thee fool, old man,

Line-01-012 But hope is not a gift of thine;

Line-01-013 If I can hope (O God! I can)

Line-01-014 It falls from an eternal shrine.

Stanza: II.

Line-01-015 [[indent]] The gay wall of this gaudy tower

Line-01-016 Grows dim around me — death is near.

Line-01-017 I had not thought, until this hour

Line-01-018 When passing from the earth, that ear

Line-01-019 Of any, were it not the shade

Line-01-020 Of one whom in life I made

Line-01-021 All mystery but a simple name,

Line-01-022 Might know the secret of a spirit

Line-01-023 Bow’d down in sorrow, and in shame. —

Line-01-024 Shame said'st thou?

Line-01-025 [[indent]] Aye I did inherit

Line-01-026 That hatred [[hated]] portion, with the fame,

Line-01-027 The worldly glory, which has shown

Line-01-028 A demon-light around my throne,

Line-01-029 Scorching my sear’d heart with a pain

Line-01-030 Not Hell shall make me fear again.

//1829-03:

Stanza: 1

Line-03-001 Kind solace in a dying hour! —

Line-03-002 [[indent]] Such, father, is not (now) my theme —

Line-03-003 I will not madly deem that power

Line-03-004 [[indent]] Of Earth may shrive me of the sin

Line-03-005 [[indent]] Unearthly pride hath revell’d in —

Line-03-006 [[indent]] I have no time to dote or dream:

Line-03-007 You call it hope — that fire of fire!

Line-03-008 It is but agony of desire:

Line-03-009 If I can hope — Oh God! I can —

Line-03-010 [[indent]] Its fount is holier — more divine —

Line-03-011 I would not call thee fool, old man,

Line-03-012 [[indent]] But such is not a gift of thine.

Stanza: 2

Line-03-013 Know thou the secret of a spirit

Line-03-014 [[indent]] Bow’d from its wild pride into shame.

Line-03-015 O! yearning heart! I did inherit

Line-03-016 [[indent]] Thy withering portion with the fame,

Line-03-017 The searing glory which hath shone

Line-03-018 Amid the jewels of my throne,

Line-03-019 Halo of Hell! and with a pain

Line-03-020 Not Hell shall make me fear again —

Line-03-021 O! craving heart, for the lost flowers

Line-03-022 And sunshine of my summer hours!

Line-03-023 Th’ undying voice of that dead time,

Line-03-024 With its interminable chime,

Line-03-025 Rings, in the spirit of a spell,

Line-03-026 Upon thy emptiness — a knell.

}}

Stanza: {{1827-01: III. //1829-03: 3 }}

Line-01-031 [[indent]] I have not always been as now {{1827-01://1829-03: : }}

Line-01-032 The fever’d diadem on my brow

Line-01-033 I claim’d and won usurpingly {{1827-01://1829-03: —— }}

Line-01-034 {{1827-01: Aye — the same heritage hath giv’n //1829-03: Hath not the same fierced heirdom given }}

Line-01-035 Rome to the Cæsar — this to me {{1827-01: ; //1829-03: ? }}

Line-01-036 The {{1827-01: heirdom //1829-03: heritage }} of a kingly mind {{1827-01://1829-03: , }}

Line-01-037 And a proud spirit {{1827-01: , }} which hath {{1827-01: striv’n //1829-03: striven }}

Line-01-038 Triumphantly with human kind.

Stanza: {{1829-03: 4 }}

Line-01-039 [[indent]] {{1827-01; 1828-01: In //1829-03: On }} mountain {{1827-01; 1828-01: air //1829-03: soil }} I first drew life {{1827-01; 1828-01: ; //1829-03: : }}

Line-01-040 The mists of the Taglay have shed {{1827-01: (2) }}

Line-01-041 {{1829-03: [[indent]] }} Nightly their dews on my {{1827-01; 1827-02: young }} head {{1827-01; 1828-01: ; //1829-03: , }}

{{1827-01; 1828-02:

Line-01-042 And my brain drank their venom then,

Line-01-043 When after day of perilous strife

Line-01-044 With chamois, I would seize his den

Line-01-045 And slumber, in my pride of power,

Line-01-046 The infant monarch of the hour —

Line-01-047 For, with the mountain dew by night,

Line-01-048 My soul imbib’d unhallow’d feeling;

Line-01-049 And I would feel its essence stealing

Line-01-050 In dreams upon me — while the light

Line-01-051 Flashing from cloud that hover’d o’er,

Line-01-052 Would seem to my half closing eye

//1829-03:

Line-03-038 And, I believe, the winged strife

Line-03-039 And tumult of the headlong air

Line-03-040 Hath nestl’d in my very hair.

Stanza: {{1829-03: 5 }}

Line-03-041 So late from Heaven — that dew — it fell

Line-03-042 [[indent]] (’Mid dreams of an unholy night)

Line-03-043 Upon me — with the touch of Hell,

Line-03-044 [[indent]] While the red flashing of the light

Line-03-045 From clouds that hung, like banners, o’er,

Line-03-046 [[indent]] Appeared to my half-closing eye

}}

Line-01-053 {{1829-03: [[indent]] }} The pageantry of monarchy {{1827-01; 1828-01: ! //1829-03: , }}

Line-01-054 And the deep {{1827-01; 1828-01: thunder's echoing //1829-03: trumpet-thunder's }} roar

Line-01-055 Came hurriedly upon me, telling

Line-01-056 Of {{1827-01; 1828-01: war, and tumult //1829-03: human battle }} , where my voice {{1829-03: , }}

Line-01-057 My {{1827-01; 1828-01: own //1829-03: own }} voice, silly child! was swelling

Line-01-058 {{1827-01; 1828-01: ( //1829-03: [ }} O {{1829-03: ! }} how {{1827-01; 1828-02: would }} my {{1827-01; 1828-02: wild heart //1829-03: spirit }} rejoice {{1829-03: , }}

Line-01-059 And leap within me at the cry {{1827-01; 1828-01: ) //1829-03: ] }}

Line-01-060 The battle-cry of {{1827-01; 1828-01: victory //1829-03: Victory }} !

{{1827-01; 1828-02:

* * * * *  

}}

Stanza: {{1827-01: IV. //1829-03: 6 }}

Line-01-061 {{1827-01; 1828-01: [[indent]] }} The rain came down upon my head

Line-01-062 {{1827-01; 1828-01: But barely shelter’d //1829-03: Unshelter’d }} — and the {{1829-03: heavy }} wind

Line-01-063 {{1827-01; 1828-01: Pass’d quickly o’er me — but //1829-03: Was giantlike — so thou, }} my mind

Line-01-064 {{1827-01; 1828-01: Was mad’ning — for ’twas man that //1829-03: It was but man, I thought, who }} shed

Line-01-065 Laurels upon me {{1827-01; 1828-01://1829-03: : }} and the rush {{1827-01; 1828-01: , //1829-03:}}

Line-01-066 The torrent of the chilly air

{{1828-02: [[the first part of the 1828 manuscript begins at this point]] }}

Line-01-067: Gurgled {{1827-01; 1828-01: in //1829-03: within }} my {{1827-01; 1828-01: pleas’d }} ear the {{1827-01: crash [[crush]] //1828-01; 1829-03: crush }}

Line-01-068: {{1828-02; 1829-03: [[indent]] }} Of empires {{1827-01; 1828-02: , //1829-03:}} with the captive's prayer {{1827-01: , }}

Line-01-069: The hum of suitors {{1827-01: , the mix’d // 1828-02: & the //1829-03: and the }} tone

Line-01-070: Of {{1827-01; 1828-02: flatt’ry //1829-03: flattery }} {{1827-01: round //1828-02; 1829-03: ’round }} a {{1827-01; 1828-02: sov’reign's //1829-03: sovereign's }} throne.

{{1827-01; 1828-02:

Stanza: {{1827-01: [[blank line, but not numbered as a new stanza]] //1828-02: 6 }}

Line-01-071: {{1827-01: [[indent]] }} The storm had ceas’d {{1827-01: — and //1828-02: & }} I awoke —

Line-01-072: {{1828-02: [[indent]] }} Its spirit cradled me to sleep,

Line-01-073: And as it pass’d me by {{1827-01: , }} there broke

Line-01-074: {{1828-02: [[indent]] }} Strange light upon me, tho’ it were

Line-01-075: {{1828-02: [[indent]] }} My soul in mystery to {{1827-01: sleep [[steep]] //1828-02: steep }} :

Line-01-076: For I was not as I had been {{1827-01: ; //1828-02:}}

Line-01-077: {{1828-02: [[indent]] }} The child of Nature, without care,

Line-01-078: Or thought {{1827-01: , }} save of the passing scene. {{1827-01:}}

}}

Stanza: {{1827-01: V. //1828-02: 7 }}

Line-01-079: {{1827-01: [[indent]] }} My passions, from that hapless hour,

Line-01-080: {{1828-02; 1829-03: [[indent]] }} Usurp’d a tyranny {{1827-01: , }} which men

Line-01-081: Have deem’d {{1827-01: , //1828-01: [[,]] // 1829-03: , }} since I have reach’d to power {{1829-03: ; }}

Line-01-082: {{1828-02; 1829-03: [[indent]] }} My innate nature — be it so:

Line-01-083: {{1828-02; 1829-03: [[indent]] }} But, father, there liv’d one who {{1827-01: , //1828-02: [[,]] //1829-03: , }} then {{1827-01://1828-02; 1829-03: , }}

Line-01-084: Then {{1827-01; 1828-02: , //1829-03:}} in my {{1827-01; 1828-02: boyhood, //1829-03: boy-hood — }} when their fire

Line-01-085: {{1828-02; 1829-03: [[indent]] }} Burn’d with a still intenser glow {{1827-01: ; }}

Line-01-086: {{1827-01; 1828-02: ( //1829-03: [ }} For passion must {{1829-03: , }} with youth {{1829-03: , }} expire {{1827-01; 1828-02: ) //1829-03: ] }}

Line-01-087: Ev’n then {{1827-01: , }} who {{1827-01; 1828-02: deem’d // 1829-03: knew }} this iron heart

Line-01-088: In woman's weakness had a part.

Stanza: {{1827-01: [[blank line, but not numbered as a new stanza]] //1828-02: 8 }}

Line-01-089: {{1827-01: [[indent]] }} I have no words {{1827-01; 1828-02: , //1829-03:}} alas! {{1829-03:}} to tell

Line-01-090: The lovliness of loving well!

Line-01-091: Nor would I {{1827-01; 1828-02: dare //1829-03: now }} attempt to trace

Line-01-092: The {{1827-01: breathing //1828-02; 1829-03: more than }} beauty of a face {{1827-01: , }}

Line-01-093: {{1827-01; 1828-02: Which //1829-03: Whose }} {{1828-02: , }} {{1827-01; 1828-02: ev’n to //1829-03: lineaments, upon }} {{1827-01: my //1828-02: this //1828-02: my }} {{1827-01; 1828-02: impassion’d }} mind,

Line-01-094: {{1827-01; 1828-02: Leaves not its memory behind. //1829-03: Are —— shadows on th’ unstgable wind: }}

Line-01-095: {{1827-01; 1828-02: In spring of life have ye ne’er //1829-03: Thus I remember having }} dwelt

Line-01-096: {{1828-02: [[indent]] }} Some {{1827-01; 1828-02: object // 1829-03: page }} of {{1827-01; 1828-02: delight //1829-03: early lore }} upon {{1827-01: , //1828-02: [[,]] //1829-03: , }}

Line-01-097: With {{1827-01; 1828-02: steadfast //1829-03: loitering }} eye, till {{1827-01; 1828-02: ye //1829-03: I }} have felt

{{1827-01; 1828-02:

Line-01-098: {{1828-02: [[indent]] }} The earth reel {{1827-01: — and //1828-02: , & }} the vision gone?

Line-01-099: {{1827-01: And I have //1828-02: So have I }} held to {{1827-01: mem’ry's //1828-02: Memory's }} eye

Line-01-100: {{1828-02: [[indent]] }} One object {{1827-01:// 1828-02: , }} and but one {{1827-01://1828-02: , }} until

{{1828-02: [[the first part of the 1828 manuscript ends at this point]] }}

Line-01-101 Its very form hath pass’d me by,

Line-01-102 But left its influence with me still.

//1829-03:

Line-03-084 The letters — with their meaning — melt

Line-03-085 [[indent]] To fantasies — with none.

}}

{{1827-01; 1828-03:

Stanza: {{1827-01: VI. }}

Line-01-103 [[indent]] ’Tis not to thee that I should name —

Line-01-104 Thou can'st not — would'st not dare to think

Line-01-105 The magic empire of a flame

Line-01-106 Which ev’n upon this perilous brink

Line-01-107 Hath fix’d my soul, tho’ unforgiv’n

Line-01-108 By what it lost for passion — Heav’n.

Line-01-109 I lov’d — and O, how tenderly!

}}

Line-01-110 {{1827-01: Yes //1829-03: O }} ! she {{1827-01: [[was]] //1829-03: was }} worthy of all love!

Line-01-111 {{1827-01: Such //1829-03: [[indent]] Love — }} as in infancy was mine {{1829-03:}}

{{1827-01:

Line-01-112 Tho’ then its passion could not be:

}}

Line-01-113 ’Twas such as angel minds above

Line-01-114 Might envy {{1827-01://1829-03: , }} her young heart the shrine

Line-01-115 On which my ev’ry hope and thought

Line-01-116 Were incense — then a goodly gift {{1827-01:// 1829-03: , }}

Line-01-117 For they were childish {{1827-01: , without sin, // 1829-03: — and upright — }}

Line-01-118 Pure {{1829-03: —— }} as her young {{1827-01: examples //1829-03: example }} taught {{1827-01: ; //1829-03: : }}

Line-01-119 Why did I leave it {{1829-03: , }} and adrift,

Line-01-120 Trust to the fickle star within {{1827-01: [[?]] //1829-03: , for light? }}

Stanza: {{1827-01: VII. }}

Line-01-121 {{1827-01: [[indent]] }} We grew in age {{1827-01: , //1829-03:}} and love {{1829-03:}} together {{1827-01: , //1829-03:}}

Line-01-122 Roaming the forest {{1829-03: , }} and the wild;

Line-01-123 My breast her shield in wintry weather {{1827-01: , //1829-03:}}

Line-01-124 {{1829-03: [[indent]] }}And when the friendly sunshine smil’d

Line-01-125 And she would mark the {{1827-01: op’ning //1829-03: opening }} skies,

Line-01-126 {{1827-01: I //1829-03: I }} saw no {{1827-01: Heav’n, //1829-03: Heaven — }} but in her eyes {{1827-01://1829-03: . }}

Stanza: {{1829-03: [[new stanza]] 11 }}

Line-01-127 {{1827-01: Ev’n childhood knows //1829-03: Young Love's first lesson is —— }} the {{1827-01: human }} heart;

Line-01-128 For {{1827-01: when, in //1829-03: 'mid that }} sunshine {{1829-03: , }} and {{1827-01: in //1829-03: those }} smiles,

Line-01-129 {{1827-01: From all //1829-03: When, from }} our little cares apart,

Line-01-130 {{1827-01: Laughing //1829-03: And laughing }} at her {{1827-01: half silly //1829-03: girlish }} wiles,

Line-01-131 I’d throw me on her throbbing breast,

Line-01-132 {{1829-03: [[indent]] }} And pour my spirit out in tears {{1827-01: , //1829-03:}}

{{1827-01:

Line-01-133 She’d look up in my wilder’d eye —

}}

Line-01-134 There was no need to speak the rest —

Line-01-135 {{1829-03: [[indent]] }} No need to quiet {{1827-01: her kind //1829-03: any }} fears {{1827-01:}}

Line-01-136 {{1827-01: She did not ask the //1829-03: Of her — who ask’d no }} reason why {{1827-01: . //1829-03: , }}

{{1829-03:

Line-03-000 But turn’d on me her quiet eye!

}}

{{1827-01:

Line-01-137 [[indent]] The hallow’d mem’ry of those years

Line-01-138 Comes o’er me in these lonely hours,

Line-01-139 And, with sweet lovliness, appears

Line-01-140 As perfume of strange summer flow’rs;

Line-01-141 Of flow’rs which we have known before

Line-01-142 In infancy, which seen, recall

Line-01-143 To mind — not flow’rs alone — but more

Line-01-144 Our earthly life, and love — and all.

}}

{{1828-02: [[the second part of the 1828 manuscript begins at this point]] }}

Stanza: {{1827-01: VIII. //1828-02: 11 }}

Line-01-145: {{1827-01: [[indent]] }} Yes! she {{1827-01: [[was]] //1828-01; 1829-03: was }} worthy of all love!

Line-01-146: {{1827-01: Ev’n such //1828-02: I taught her }} as from {{1827-01: th’ accursed //1828-02: the }} time

Line-01-147: My spirit with the tempest strove {{1827-01: , }}

Line-01-148: When {{1828-02; 1829-03: , }} on the mountain peak {{1829-03: , }} alone,

Line-01-149: Ambition lent it a new tone {{1827-01: , //1828-02:}}

Line-01-150: And bade it first to dream of crime,

{{1827-01:

Line-01-151: My phrenzy [[frenzy]] to her bosom taught:

Line-01-152: We still were young: no purer thought

Line-01-153: Dwell [[Dwelt]] in a seraph's breast than thine; (3)

Line-01-154: For passionate love is still divine:

//1828-02:

Line-02-150: There were no holier thoughts than thine.

}}

Line-01-155: {{1827-01: I //1828-02: I }} lov’d {{1827-01: her //1828-02: thee }} as an angel might {{1828-02: , }}

Line-01-156: With ray of the {{1827-01: all living //1828-02: all-living }} light

Line-01-157: Which blazes upon Edis’ shrine {{1827-01: . (4) //1828-02:}}

Line-01-158: It is not surely sin to name {{1827-01: , }}

Line-01-159: With such as mine {{1827-01:}} that mystic flame,

Line-01-160: I had no being but in thee {{1827-01: ! //1828-02:}}

Line-01-161: The world {{1828-02: , }} with all its train of bright

Line-01-162: And happy beauty {{1828-02:}} (for to me

Line-01-163: All was an undefin’d delight {{1828-02: . }} )

Line-01-164: The world — its joy — its share of pain

Line-01-165: {{1827-01: Which I felt not //1828-02: unheeded then }} — its bodied forms

Line-01-166: Of varied being {{1827-01: , }} which contain

Line-01-167: The bodiless spirits of the storms,

Line-01-168: The sunshine, {{1827-01: and //1828-02: & }} the calm — {{1827-01: the //1828-02: th’ }} ideal

Line-01-169: And fleeting vanities of dreams {{1827-01: , }}

Line-01-170: Fearfully beautiful {{1827-01: ! //1828-02:}} the real

Line-01-171: Nothings of mid-day waking life —

Line-01-172: Of an enchanted life, which seems,

Line-01-173: Now as I look back, the strife

Line-01-174: Of {{1827-01: some //1828-02: an }} ill demon {{1827-01: , }} with a power

Line-01-175: Which left me in an evil hour {{1827-01: , //1828-02:}}

Line-01-176: All that I felt, or saw, or thought,

Line-01-177: {{1828-02: [[indent]] }} Crowding {{1827-01: , }} confused became

Line-01-178: (With thine unearthly beauty fraught {{1828-02:}} )

Line-01-179: {{1828-02: [[indent]] }} Thou — {{1827-01: and // 1828-02: & }} the nothing of a name.

Stanza: {{1827-01: IX. //1828-02: 12 }}

Line-01-130: {{1827-01: [[indent]] }} The passionate spirit which hath known {{1827-01: , }}

Line-01-181: And deeply felt the silent tone

Line-01-182: Of its own {{1827-01: self supremacy, //1828-02: self-supremacy }}

{{1827-01:

Line-01-183: (I speak thus openly to thee,

Line-01-184: ’Twere folly now to veil a thought

Line-01-185: With which this aching, [[sic]] breast is fraught)

Line-01-186: The soul which feels its innate right —

Line-01-187: The mystic empire and high power

Line-01-188: Giv’n by the energetic might

Line-01-189: Of Genius, at its natal hour;

}}

Line-01-190: Which knows (believe {{1827-01: ! me at this time, // 1828-02: for now on me }}

Line-01-191: {{1827-01: When falsehood wore [[were]] a ten-fold crime //1828-02: Truth flashes thro’ Eternity }} ,

Line-01-192: There is a power in the high spirit

Line-01-193: To know the fate it will inherit)

Line-01-194: The soul {{1827-01: , }} which {{1827-01: knows //1828-02: feels }} such power {{1827-01: , }} will still

Line-01-195: Find {{1827-01: Pride //1828-02: Pride }} the ruler of its will.

Stanza: {{1827-01: [[blank line, but not numbered as a new stanza]] //1828-02: 13 }}

Line-01-196: {{1827-01: [[indent]] }} Yes! I was proud {{1827-01: — and //1828-02: & }} ye who know

Line-01-197: {{1828-02: [[indent]] }} The magic of that meaning word {{1827-01: , }}

Line-01-198: So oft perverted, will bestow

Line-01-199: {{1828-02: [[indent]] }} Your scorn {{1827-01: , }} perhaps {{1827-01: , }} when ye have heard

Line-01-200: That the proud spirit had been broken,

Line-01-201: {{1828-02: [[indent]] }} The proud heart burst in agony

Line-01-202: At one upbraiding word or token

Line-01-203: {{1828-02: [[indent]] }} Of her {{1828-02: , }} that heart's idolatry {{1827-01://1828-02: ! }}

Stanza: {{1829-03: [[new stanza]] 13 }}

Line-01-204: I was ambitious — have {{1827-01; 1828-02: ye // 1829-03: you }} known

Line-01-205: {{1828-02: [[indent]] }} {{1827-01: Its //1828-02; 1829-03: The }} {{1827-01; 1828-02: fiery }} passion {{1829-03: , father }} ? {{1827-01: — ye //1828-02: Ye //1829-03: You }} have not {{1827-01; 1828-02://1829-03: : }}

Line-01-206: A cottager, I mark’d a throne

Line-01-207: Of half the world {{1827-01: , }} as all my own {{1827-01: , //1828-02: [[,]] //1829-03: , }}

Line-01-208: {{1828-02: [[indent]] }} And murmur’d at such lowly lot {{1827-01: ! //1828-02: ; //1828-02:}}

Line-01-209: But {{1827-01; 1828-02: it had pass’d me as a {{1827-01; 1828-02: , just like any other }} dream {{1829-03: , }}

{{1827-01; 1828-02:

Line-01-210: {{1828-02: [[indent]] }} Which, of light step, flies with the dew {{1827-01: , }}

Line-01-211: {{1828-02: ( }} That kindling thought {{1828-02: ) }} — did not the beam

//1829-03:

Line-03-000: [[indent]] Upon the vapor of the dew

Line-03-000: My own had past, did not the beam

}}

Line-01-212: {{1828-02; 1829-03: [[indent]] }} Of Beauty {{1827-01; 1828-02: , }} which did {{1827-01; 1828-02: guide //1829-03: while }} it {{1827-01: through //1828-02; 1829-03: thro’ }}

{{1827-01; 1828-02:

Line-01-213: The {{1827-01: livelong //1828-02: live-long }} summer day, oppress

//1829-03:

Line-03-000: The minute — the hour — the day — oppress

}}

Line-01-214: My mind with double loveliness {{1827-01:// 1828-02: ! //1829-03: . }}

  * * * * *  

Stanza: {{1827-01: X. //1828-02; 1829-03; 1829-03: 14 }}

Line-01-215: {{1827-01: [[indent]] }} We walk’d together on the crown

Line-01-216: Of a high mountain {{1827-01: , }} which look’d down

Line-01-217: Afar from its proud natural towers

Line-01-218: Of rock {{1827-01: and //1828-02: & // 1829-03: and }} forest, on the hills {{1827-01://1828-02: ; //1829-03:}}

Line-01-219: The dwindled hills {{1827-01; 1828-02: , whence // 1829-03: ! begirt }} {{1828-02: , }} {{1827-01; 1828-02: amid //1829-03: with }} bowers

{{1827-01; 1828-02:

Line-01-220: {{1828-02: [[indent]] }} Her {{1827-01: own fair // 1828-02: magic }} hand had rear’d around {{1827-01: , }}

}}

Line-01-221: {{1828-02: [[indent]] }} {{1827-01; 1828-02: Gush’d shoutingly //1829-03: And shouting with }} a thousand rills {{1827-01; 1828-02: , //1829-03: . }}

{{1827-01; 1828-02:

Line-01-222: {{1828-02: [[indent]] }} {{1827-01: Which as it were, in fairy //1828-02: Encircling with a glitt’ring }} bound

}}

{{1827-01:

Line-01-223: Embrac’d two hamlets — those our own —

Line-01-224: Peacefully happy — yet alone —

//1828-02:

Line-02-222: Of diamond sunshine & sweet spray

Line-02-223: Two mossy huts of the Taglay.

}}

  * * * * *  

Stanza: {{1827-01: [[blank line, but not numbered as a new stanza]] //1828-02: 15 }}

Line-01-225: {{1827-01: [[indent]] }} I spoke to her of power and pride {{1827-01://1828-02; 1829-03: , }}

Line-01-226: {{1828-02: [[indent]] }} But mystically{{1827-01; 1828-02: , //1829-03:}} in such guise{{1827-01; 1828-02: , }}

Line-01-227: That she might deem it {{1827-01: naught //1828-02; 1829-03: nought }} beside

Line-01-228: {{1828-02; 1829-03: [[indent]] }} The moment's converse {{1827-01: , //1828-02; 1829-03: ; }} in her eyes

Line-01-229: I read {{1827-01: ( //1828-02; 1829-03: , }} perhaps too carelessly {{1827-01: ) //1828-02: , //1828-02:}}

Line-01-230: {{1828-02: [[indent]] }} A mingled feeling with my own {{1827-01: , //1828-02: ; //1828-02:}}

Line-01-231: The flush on her bright cheek {{1827-01; 1829-03: , }} to me {{1827-01: , }}

Line-01-232: {{1828-02; 1829-03: [[indent]] }} Seem’d to become a queenly throne

Line-01-233: Too well {{1827-01: , }} that I should let it be

Line-01-234: {{1828-02; 1829-03: [[indent]] }} {{1827-01; 1828-02: A light //1829-03: Light }} in the {{1827-01; 1828-02: dark wild //1829-03: wilderness }} {{1827-01: , }} alone.

{{1827-01; 1828-02:

Stanza: {{1827-01: XI. //1828-02: 16 }}

Line-01-235: {{1827-01: [[indent]] }} There {{1827-01:// 1828-02: , }} in that hour {{1827-01://1828-02: , }} a thought came o’er

Line-01-236: My mind {{1827-01: , }} it had not known before —

Line-01-237: To leave her while we both were young {{1827-01: , — //1828-02: : }}

Line-01-238: To follow my high fate among

Line-01-239: The strife of nations, {{1827-01: and //1828-02: & }} redeem

Line-01-240: The idle words {{1827-01: , }} which, as a dream {{1828-02: , }}

Line-01-241: Now sounded to her heedless ear —

Line-01-242: I held no doubt {{1827-01://1828-02: , }} I knew no fear

Line-01-243: Of peril in my wild career {{1827-01: ; //1828-02:}}

Line-01-244: To gain an empire {{1827-01: , and //1828-02: & }} throw down

Line-01-245: As nuptial dowry {{1828-02:}} a queen's crown {{1827-01: [[,]] }}

}}

{{1827-01:

Line-01-246: The only feeling which possest,

Line-01-247: With her own image, my fond breast —

//1828-02:

Line-02-245: The undying hope which now oppress’d

Line-02-246: A spirit ne’er to be at rest.

}}

Stanza: {{1828-02: [[new stanza]] 17 }}

{{1827-01; 1828-02:

Line-01-248: Who {{1827-01: , }} that had known the {{1827-01: secret //1828-02: silent }} thought

Line-01-249: {{1828-02: [[indent]] }} Of a young peasant's bosom then {{1827-01: , }}

Line-01-250: Had deem’d him, in compassion, aught

Line-01-251: {{1828-02: [[indent]] }} But one {{1827-01: , }} whom {{1827-01: phantasy //1828-02: Phantasy }} had led

Line-01-252: {{1828-02: [[indent]] }} {{1827-01: Astray from reason — Among //1828-02: Her mantel over? among }} men

//1829-03:

Line-03-000: I wrapp’d myself in grandeur then,

Line-03-000: [[indent]] And donn’d a visionary crown ——

Line-03-000: [[indent]] Yet it was not Fantasy

Line-03-000: [[indent]] Had thrown her mantle over me —

}}

Line-01-253: {{1828-02: [[indent]] }} {{1827-01: Ambition //1828-02; 1829-03: Lion ambition }} is chain’d down {{1827-01: — nor fed //1828-02: , //1829-03: . }}

{{1828-02; 1829-03:

Line-02-253: And crouches to a keeper's hand —

}}

Line-01-254: {{1827-01: (As in the desert, //1828-02; 1829-03: Not so in deserts }} where the grand {{1827-01: , }}

Line-01-255: The wild {{1827-01; 1828-02: , //1829-03:}} the {{1827-01: beautiful, //1828-02; 1829-03: terrible }} conspire

Line-01-256: With their own breath to fan its fire {{1827-01: ) //1828-02; 1829-03: . }}

{{1827-01:

Line-01-257: With thoughts such feeling can command;

Line-01-258: Uncheck’d by sarcasm, and scorn

Line-01-259: Of those, who hardly will conceive

Line-01-260: That any should become “great,” born (5)

Line-01-261: In their own sphere — will not believe

Line-01-262: That they shall stoop in life to one

Line-01-263: Whom daily they are wont to see

Line-01-264: Familiarly — whom Fortune's sun

Line-01-265: Hath ne’er shone dazzlingly upon

Line-01-266: Lowly — and of their own degree —

Stanza: {{1827-01: XII. }}

Line-01-267: [[indent]] I pictur’d to my fancy's eye

Line-01-268: Her silent, deep astonishment,

Line-01-269: When, a few fleeting years gone by,

Line-01-270: (For short the time my high hope lent

Line-01-271: To its most desperate intent,)

Line-01-272: She might recall in him, whom Fame

Line-01-273: Had gilded with a conquerer's name,

Line-01-274: (With glory — such as might inspire

Line-01-275: Perforce, a passing thought of one,

Line-01-276: Whom she had deem’d in his own fire

Line-01-277: Wither’d and blasted; who had gone

Line-01-278: A traitor, violate of the truth

Line-01-279: So plighted in his early youth,)

Line-01-280: Her own Alexis, who should plight (6)

Line-01-281: The love he plighted then — again,

Line-01-282: And raise his infancy's delight,

Line-01-283: The bride and queen of Tamerlane —

Stanza: {{1827-01: XIII. }}

Line-01-284: [[indent]] One noon of a bright summer's day

Line-01-285: I pass’d from out the matted bow’r

Line-01-286: Where in a deep, still slumber lay

Line-01-287: My Ada. In that peaceful hour,

Line-01-288: A silent gaze was my farewell.

Line-01-289: I had no other solace — then

Line-01-290: T’awake her, and a falsehood tell

Line-01-291: Of a feign’d journey, were again

Line-01-292: To trust the weakness of my heart

Line-01-293: To her soft thrilling voice:  To part

Line-01-294: Thus, haply, while in sleep she dream’d

Line-01-295: Of long delight, nor yet had deem’d

Line-01-296: Awake, that I had held a thought

Line-01-297: Of parting, were with madness fraught;

Line-01-298: I knew not woman's heart, alas!

Line-01-299: Tho’ lov’d, and loving — let it pass. —

Stanza: {{1827-01: XIV. }}

Line-01-300: [[indent]] I went from out the matted bow’r,

Line-01-301: And hurried madly on my way:

Line-01-302: And felt, with ev’ry flying hour,

Line-01-303: That bore me from my home, more gay;

Line-01-304: There is of earth an agony

Line-01-305: Which, ideal, still may be

Line-01-306: The worst ill of mortality,

Line-01-307: ’Tis bliss, in its own reality,

Line-01-308: Too real, to his breast who lives

Line-01-309: Not within himself but gives

Line-01-310: A portion of his willing soul

Line-01-311: To God, and to the great whole —

Line-01-313: To him, whose loving spirit will dwell

Line-01-313: With Nature, in her wild paths; tell

Line-01-314: Of her wond’rous ways, and telling bless

Line-01-315: Her overpow’ring loveliness!

Line-01-316: A more than agony to him

Line-01-317: Whose failing sight will grow dim

Line-01-318: With its own living gaze upon

Line-01-319: That loveliness around: the sun —

Line-01-320: The blue sky — the misty light

Line-01-321: Of the pale cloud therein, whose hue

Line-01-322: Is grace to its heav’nly bed of blue;

Line-01-323: Dim! tho’ looking on all bright!

Line-01-324: O God! when the thoughts that may not pass

Line-01-325: Will burst upon him, and alas!

Line-01-326: For the flight on Earth to Fancy giv’n,

Line-01-327: There are no words —— unless of Heav’n.

Stanza: {{1827-01: XV. //1828-02: 18 }}

  * * * * * *  

}}

Line-01-328: {{1827-01: [[indent]] }} Look ’round thee now on Samarcand {{1827-01: , (7) //1828-02: ! //1829-03: ! — }}

Line-01-329: {{1829-03: [[indent]] }} Is she not queen of {{1827-01; 1828-02: earth //1829-03: Earth }} ? her pride

Line-01-330: Above all cities? in her hand

Line-01-331: {{1829-03: [[indent]] }} Their destinies? {{1827-01: with // 1828-02; 1829-03: in }} all beside

Line-01-332: Of glory {{1827-01: , }} which the world hath known {{1827-01: ? }}

Line-01-333: Stands she not {{1827-01: proudly and //1828-02: nobly & //1829-03: nobly and }} alone?

{{1829-03:

Line-03-173 Falling — her veriest stepping-stone

Line-03-174 Shall form the pedestal of a throne —

}}

Line-01-334: And who her {{1827-01; 1828-02: sov’reign // 1829-03: sovereign }} ? {{1827-01; 1828-02: Timur //1829-03: Timour }} {{1828-02; 1829-03:}} he {{1827-01: (8) }}

Line-01-335: Whom {{1827-01: th’ //1828-02; 1829-03: the }} {{1827-01; 1828-02: astonish’d //1829-03: astonished }} {{1827-01: earth hath seen, //1828-02; 1829-03: people saw }}

{{1827-01; 1829-03:

Line-01-336: Striding o’er empires haughtily

Line-01-337: A diadem’d outlaw {{1827-01: ! //1829-03:}}

//1828-02:

Line-02-335: With victory, on victory,

Line-02-336: Redoubling age! and more, I ween,

}}

{{1827-01; 1828-02:

Line-01-338: {{1827-01: The Zinghis’ yet re-echoing //1828-02: More than the Zinghis in his }} fame {{1827-01: . (9) // 1828-02:}}

Line-01-339: And now what has he? {{1827-01: what! //1828-02: even }} a name.

Stanza: {{1828-02: [[new stanza] 19 }}

Line-01-340: The sound of revelry {{1827-01: by //1828-02: to }} night

Line-01-341: Comes o’er me, with the mingled voice

Line-01-342: {{1827-01: Of //1828-02: From }} many with a breast as light {{1827-01: , }}

Line-01-343: As if ’twere not the dying hour

Line-01-344: Of one {{1827-01: , }} in whom they did rejoice —

Line-01-345: As in a leader, haply {{1827-01://1828-02: ; }} Power

Line-01-346: Its venom secretly imparts {{1827-01: ; //1828-02:}}

Line-01-347: {{1827-01: Nothing have I //1828-01: And I have naught }} with human hearts.

}}

{{1828-02: [[the 1828 manuscript ends at this point]] }}

{{1829-03:

Stanza: 18

Line-03-179 O! human love! thou spirit given,

Line-03-180 On Earth, of all we hope in Heaven!

Line-03-181 Which fall'st into the soul like rain

Line-03-182 Upon the Siroc wither’d plain,

Line-03-183 And failing in thy power to bless

Line-03-184 But leav'st the heart a wilderness!

Line-03-185 Idea! which bindest life around

Line-03-186 With music of so strange a sound

Line-03-187 And beauty of so wild a birth —

Line-03-188 Farewell! for I have won the Earth!

Stanza: 19

Line-03-189 When Hope, the eagle that tower’d, could see

Line-03-190 [[indent]] No cliff beyond him in the sky,

Line-03-191 His pinions were bent droopingly —

Line-03-192 [[indent]] And homeward turn’d his soften’d eye.

}}

{{1827-01:

Stanza: {{1827-01: XVI. }}

  * * * * *  

Line-01-348 [[indent]] When Fortune mark’d me for her own,

Line-01-349 And my proud hopes had reach’d a throne

Line-01-350 (It boots me not, good friar, to tell

Line-01-351 A tale the world but knows to [[too]] well,

Line-01-352 How by what hidden deeds of might,

Line-01-353 I clamber’d to the tottering height,)

Line-01-354 I still was young; and well I ween

Line-01-355 My spirit what it e’er had been.

Line-01-356 My eyes were still on pomp and power,

Line-01-357 My wilder’d heart was far away,

Line-01-358 In vallies of the wild Taglay,

Line-01-359 In mine own Ada's matted bow’r.

Line-01-360 I dwelt not long in Samarcand

Line-01-361 Ere, in a peasant's lowly guise,

Line-01-362 I sought my long—abandon’d [[long-abandon’d]] land,

Line-01-363 By sunset did its mountains rise

Line-01-364 In dusky grandeur to my eyes:

Line-01-365 But as I wander’d on the way

Line-01-366 My heart sunk with the sun's ray.

Line-01-367 To him, who still would gaze upon

Line-01-368 The glory of the summer sun,

}}

Stanza: {{1829-03: [[new stanza]] 20 }}

Line-01-369 {{1827-01: There comes, when that sun will from him part, //1829-03: ’Twas sunset: when the sun will part }}

Line-01-370 {{1827-01: A sullen hopelessness //1829-03: There comes a sullenness }} of heart.

{{1829-03:

Line-03-195 To him who still would look upon

Line-03-196 The glory of the summer sun.

}}

Line-01-371 That soul will hate the ev’ning mist

Line-01-372 So often lovely, and will {{1827-01: lisp [[list]] // 1829-03: list }}

Line-01-373 To the sound of the coming darkness {{1827-01: ( // 1829-03: [ }} known

Line-01-374 To those whose spirits {{1827-01: hark’n) //1829-03: harken] }} as one {{1827-01: [[(10)]] }}

Line-01-375 Who {{1829-03: , }} in a dream of night {{1829-03: , }} would fly

Line-01-376 But {{1827-01: cannot //1829-03: cannot }} from a danger nigh.

Stanza: {{1829-03: [[new stanza]] 21 }}

Line-01-377 What {{1827-01: though //1829-03: tho’ }} the moon — the {{1827-01: silvery //1829-03: white }} moon

Line-01-378 {{1827-01: Shine on his path, in //1829-03: Shed all the splendor of }} her {{1827-01: high }} noon {{1827-01: ; //1829-03: , }}

Line-01-379 Her smile is chilly {{1827-01: , //1829-03:}} and her beam {{1829-03: , }}

Line-01-380 In that time of dreariness {{1829-03: , }} will seem

{{1827-01:

Line-01-381 As the portrait of one after death;

Line-01-382 A likeness taken when the breath

Line-01-383 Of young life, and the fire o’ the eye

Line-01-384 Had lately been but had pass’d by.

Line-01-385 ’Tis thus when the lovely summer sun

Line-01-386 Of our boyhood, his course hath run:

//1829-03:

Line-03-207 [So like you gather in your breath]

Line-03-208 A portrait taken after death.

Line-03-209 And boyhood is a summer sun

Line-03-210 Whose waning is the dreariest one —

}}

Line-01-387 For all we live to know {{1827-01:}} is known {{1827-01: ; }}

Line-01-388 And all we seek to keep {{1827-01:}} hath flown {{1827-01: ; //1829-03:}}

Line-03-000 {{1829-03: Let life, then, as the day-flower, fall }}

Line-01-389 With the noon-day beauty {{1827-01: , //1829-03:}} which is all.

{{1827-01:

Line-01-390 Let life, then, as the day-flow’r, fall —

Line-01-391 The trancient, passionate day-flow’r, (11)

Line-01-392 Withering at the ev’ning hour.

}}

Stanza: {{1827-01: XVII. //1829-03: 22 }}

Line-01-393 {{1827-01: [[indent]] }} I reach’d my home — my home no more —

Line-01-394 {{1829-03: [[indent]] }} For all {{1827-01: was // 1829-03: had }} flown that made it so —

Line-01-395 I pass’d from out its mossy door,

{{1827-01:

Line-01-396 In vacant idleness of woe.

Line-01-397 There met me on its threshold stone

Line-01-398 A mountain hunter, I had known

Line-01-399 In childhood but he knew me not.

Line-01-400 Something he spoke of the old cot:

Line-01-401 It had seen better days, he said;

Line-01-402 There rose a fountain once, and there

Line-01-403 Full many a fair flow’r rais’d its head:

Line-01-404 But she who rear’d them was long dead,

Line-01-405 And in such follies had no part,

Line-01-406 What was there left me now? despair —

Line-01-407 A kingdom for a broken — heart.

//1829-03:

Line-03-218 [[indent]] And, tho’ my tread was soft and low,

Line-03-219 A voice came from the threshold stone

Line-03-220 Of one whom I had earlier known —

Line-03-221 [[indent]] O! I defy thee, Hell, to show

Line-03-222 [[indent]] On beds of fire that burn below,

Line-03-223 [[indent]] A humbler heart — a deeper wo —

Stanza: 23

Line-03-224 Father, I firmly do believe —

Line-03-225 [[indent]] I know — for Death who comes for me

Line-03-226 [[indent]] From regions of the blest afar,

Line-03-227 Where there is nothing to deceive,

Line-03-228 [[indent]] Hath left his iron gate ajar,

Line-03-229 [[indent]] And rays of truth you cannot see

Line-03-230 [[indent]] Are flashing thro’ Eternity ——

Line-03-231 I do believe that Eblis hath

Line-03-232 A snare in ev’ry human path —

Line-03-233 Else how, when in the holy grove

Line-03-234 I wandered of the idol, Love,

Line-03-235 Who daily scents his snowy wings

Line-03-236 With incense of burnt offerings

Line-03-237 From the most unpolluted things,

Line-03-238 Whose pleasant bowers are yet so riven

Line-03-239 Above with trelliced rays from Heaven

Line-03-240 No mote may shun — no tiniest fly

Line-03-241 The light’ning of his eagle eye —

Line-03-242 How was it that Ambition crept,

Line-03-243 [[indent]] Unseen, amid the revels there,

Line-03-244 Till growing bold, he laughed and leapt

Line-03-245 [[indent]] In the tangles of Love's very hair?

}}


∞∞∞∞∞∞∞


Notes:

For an explanation of the formatting used in this Comparative Text, see editorial policies and methods. This format is very much an experiment, particularly for poetry. This particular example is extremely complicated, and while the result appropriately demonstrates that complexity, it may be difficult to use more productively. It should certainly be clear why Mabbott chooses to present the TAOP text separately, and does not include it in the variorum apparatus for the poem.

Because these changes reflect two different printed texts, pagination has been omitted in the present text.

The Wilmer-MS is fragmentary, beginning at Line-01-067 through Line-01-100 and Line-01-145 through Line-01-347. Notes appear only in the 1827 text, and the absence of references to notes in the text of the Wilmer-MS suggests that Poe had already abandoned the use of them for the poem.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

[S:0 - comparative] - Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - Works - Poems - Tamerlane (Comparative Text - TAOP, Wilmer-MS and ATMP)