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Title: For Annie.
{{1849-01; 1849-02:
}}
{{1849-02:
Byline: by Edgar A. Poe.
}}
Line-01-001 {{1849-01; 1849-02: Thank //1849-03: THANK }} Heaven! — the crisis —
Line-01-002 [[indent]] The danger is past,
Line-01-003 And the lingering illness
Line-01-004 [[indent]] Is over at last —
Line-01-005 And the fever called “Living”
Line-01-006 [[indent]] Is conquered at last.
——
Line-01-007 Sadly, I know, {{1849-01: I am }}
Line-01-008 [[indent]] {{1849-01: Shorn //1849-02; 1849-03: I am shorn }} of my strength,
Line-01-009 And no muscle I move {{1849-01: , }}
Line-01-010 [[indent]] As I lie at full length —
Line-01-011 But no matter! — I feel
Line-01-012 [[indent]] I am better at length.
——
Line-01-013 And I rest so composedly {{1849-02; 1849-03: , }}
Line-01-014 [[indent]] Now, in my bed,
Line-01-015 That any beholder
Line-01-016 [[indent]] Might fancy me dead —
Line-01-017 Might start at beholding me,
Line-01-018 [[indent]] Thinking me dead.
——
Line-01-019 The moaning and groaning,
Line-01-020 [[indent]] The sighing and sobbing {{1849-01; 1849-02: , //1849-03: [[,]] }}
Line-01-021 Are quieted now {{1849-01: ; with //1849-02; 1849-03: , }}
Line-01-022 [[indent]] {{1849-01: The //1849-02; 1849-03: With that }} horrible throbbing
Line-01-023 At heart: — ah {{1849-01; 1849-02: , }} that horrible {{1849-01: , //1849-02: [[,]] //1849-03: , }}
Line-01-024 [[indent]] Horrible throbbing!
——
Line-01-025 The sickness — the nausea —
Line-01-026 [[indent]] The pitiless pain —
Line-01-027 Have ceased, with the fever
Line-01-028 [[indent]] That maddened my brain —
Line-01-029 With the fever called “Living”
Line-01-030 [[indent]] That burned in my brain.
——
Line-01-031 And oh {{1849-01: , //1849-02; 1849-03: ! }} of all tortures
Line-01-032 [[indent]] That torture the worst
Line-01-033 Has abated — the terrible
Line-01-034 [[indent]] Torture of thirst
Line-01-035 For the napthaline rivers
Line-01-036 [[indent]] Of Passion accurst {{1849-01: ! //1849-02; 1849-03: : }} —
Line-01-037 I have drank of a water
Line-01-038 [[indent]] That quenches all thirst: —
——
Line-01-039 Of a water that flows,
Line-01-040 [[indent]] With a lullaby sound,
Line-01-041 From a spring but a very few
Line-01-042 [[indent]] Feet under ground —
Line-01-043 From a cavern not very far
Line-01-044 [[indent]] Down under ground.
——
Line-01-045 And ah {{1849-01: , //1849-02; 1849-03: ! }} let it never {{1849-01: be }}
Line-01-046 [[indent]] {{1849-01: Foolishly //1849-02; 1849-03: Be foolishly }} said
Line-01-047 That my room it is gloomy
Line-01-048 [[indent]] And narrow my bed;
Line-01-049 For man never slept
Line-01-050 [[indent]] In a different bed {{1849-01: ; //1849-02; 1849-03: — }}
Line-01-051 And, {{1849-01: to //1849-02; 1849-03: to }} sleep, you must slumber
——
[[... the remaining stanzas are lost, the following lines are compared against the Home Journal printing:]]
Line-01-052 My {{1849-01: tantalised [[tantalized]] //1849-03: tantalized }} spirit {{1849-01: , here, }}
Line-01-053 [[indent]] {{1849-01: Blandly //1849-03: Here blandly }} reposes,
Line-01-054 Forgetting, or never
Line-01-055 [[indent]] Regretting, its roses —
Line-01-056 Its old agitations
Line-01-057 [[indent]] Of myrtles and roses.
——
Line-01-058 For now, while so quietly
Line-01-059 [[indent]] Lying, {{1849-01: I fancy //1849-03: it fancies }}
Line-01-060 A holier odor {{1849-01: about me, }}
Line-01-061 [[indent]] {{1849-01: Of pansy //1849-03: About it, of pansies }} —
Line-01-062 A rosemary odor {{1849-03: , }}
Line-01-063 [[indent]] Commingled with {{1849-01: pansy //1849-03: pansies }} —
Line-01-064 With rue and the beautiful
Line-01-065 [[indent]] Puritan {{1849-01: pansy //1849-03: pansies }} .
——
Line-01-066 And so {{1849-01: I lie tranquilly //1849-03: it lies happily }} ,
Line-01-067 [[indent]] Bathing in many
Line-01-068 A dream of the truth
Line-01-069 [[indent]] And the beauty of Annie —
Line-01-070 Drowned in a bath
Line-01-071 [[indent]] Of the tresses of Annie.
——
Line-01-072 She tenderly kissed me,
Line-01-073 [[indent]] She fondly caressed,
Line-01-074 And then I fell gently
Line-01-075 [[indent]] To sleep on her breast —
Line-01-076 Deeply to sleep {{1849-01: from the }}
Line-01-077 [[indent]] {{1849-01: Heaven //1849-03: from the heaven }} of her breast.
——
Line-01-078 When the light was extinguished {{1849-03: , }}
Line-01-079 [[indent]] She covered me warm,
Line-01-080 And she prayed to the angels
Line-01-081 [[indent]] To keep me from harm —
Line-01-082 To the queen of the angels
Line-01-083 [[indent]] To shield me from harm.
——
Line-01-084 And I lie so composedly {{1849-03: , }}
Line-01-085 [[indent]] Now, in my bed,
Line-01-086 (Knowing her love)
Line-01-087 [[indent]] That you fancy me dead —
Line-01-088 And I rest so contentedly {{1849-03: , }}
Line-01-089 [[indent]] Now, in my bed,
Line-01-090 (With her love at my breast)
Line-01-091 [[indent]] That you fancy me dead —
Line-01-092 That you shudder to look at me,
Line-01-093 [[indent]] Thinking me dead {{1849-01: . //1849-03: : — }}
——
Line-01-094 But my heart it is brighter
Line-01-095 [[indent]] Than all of the many
Line-01-096 Stars of the sky, {{1849-01: for it }}
Line-01-097 [[indent]] {{1849-01: Sparkles //1849-03: For it sparkles }} with Annie —
Line-01-098 It glows with the light
Line-01-099 [[indent]] Of the love of my Annie —
Line-01-100 With the thought of the light
Line-01-101 [[indent]] Of the eyes of my Annie.
——
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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.
Because these changes reflect two different manuscripts, pagination has been omitted in the present text.
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[S:0 - comparative] - Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - Works - Poems - For Annie (Comparative Text - Chester MS, Willis MS and HJ)