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1
Romance who loves to nod and sing,
With drowsy head and folded wing,
Among the green leaves as they shake
Far down within some shadowy lake,
To me a painted paroquet
Hath been — a most familiar bird —
Taught me my alphabet to say —
To lisp my very earliest word
While in the wild wood I did lie
A child — with a most knowing eye.
2
Of late, eternal Condor years
So shake the Heavens on high
With tumult, as they thunder by,
I have no time for idle cares
Thro' gazing on th’ unquiet sky.
And, when an hour with calmer wings
Its down upon my spirit flings —
That little time with lyre and rhyme
To while away — forbidden things!
My heart would feel to be a crime
Unless it trembled with the strings!
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Notes:
This version presents the text with all of Poe's indicated changes having been made. For a detailed analysis of the changes made in this version, see the study text.
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[S:1 - ATMPEH, 1845] - Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - Works - Poems - Romance (Text-05a)