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Text: Edgar Allan Poe, "To the River ----" (D), Saturday Museum (Philadelphia), March 4, 1843, p. 1, col. 6






[page 1, column 6, continued:]

[[. . . .]]
 
    The last which we shall quote of the "Minor Poems," is one in which the skill of the composition, when the age of the writer is considered, is by no means its least remarkable feature.

TO THE RIVER. —

Fair river! in thy bright clear flow
    Of crystal wandering water,
Thou art an emblem of the glow
        Of Beauty — the unhidden heart —
        The playful maziness of art
In old Alberto's daughter.
 
——
 
But when within thy wave she looks,
        Which glistens then, and trembles,
Why then the prettiest of brooks
        Her worshipper resembles;

For in my heart, as in thy stream,
    Her image deeply lies —
His heart which trembles at the beam
    Of her soul-searching eyes.

    In leaving these to note the poems of his maturer years, we are wonder-struck not more at the genius of the poet, than at his poetical reputation [[. . . .]]









Notes:

This poem is quoted as part of a biographical article on Poe by his friend, Henry Beck Hirst. The article is full of factual errors, likely attributable to Poe himself.







 
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