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Text: Edgar Allan Poe, "Spirits of the Dead" (C), Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems, 1829, pp. 65-66





[page 65:]

6.
 
SPIRITS OF THE DEAD.
 
1

Thy soul shall find itself alone
'Mid dark thoughts of the grey tomb-stone —
Not one, of all the crowd, to pry
Into thine hour of secrecy:

2

Be silent in that solitude
    Which is not loneliness — for then
The spirits of the dead who stood
    In life before thee are again [page 66:]
In death around thee —  and their will
Shall then overshadow thee: be still.

3

For the night — tho' clear — shall frown —
And the stars shall look not down,
From their high thrones in the Heaven,
With light like Hope to mortals given —
But their red orbs, without beam,
To thy weariness shall seem
As a burning and a fever
Which would cling to thee for ever :

4

Now are thoughts thou shalt not banish —
Now are visions ne'er to vanish —
From thy spirit shall they pass
No more — like dew-drop from the grass:

5

The breeze — the breath of God — is still —
And the mist upon the hill
Shadowy — shadowy — yet unbroken,
Is a symbol and a token —
How it hangs upon the trees,
A mystery of mysteries! —










Notes:

Only the second stanza has any indentation. In previous versions, there is no indentation at all.







 
[S:1 - ATMP, 1829 (fac 1933)] - Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - Works - Poems - Spirits of the Dead (C)