Text: Edgar Allan Poe, “Bridal Ballad” (Text-02b), Southern Literary Messenger (Richmond, VA), vol. III, no. 1, January 1837, p. 5


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[page 5:]

BALLAD.

BY E. A. POE.

The ring is on my hand,

And the wreath is on my brow —

Satins and jewels grand,

And many a rood of land,

Are all at my command,

And I am happy now!

He has loved me long and well,

And, when he breathed his vow,

I felt my bosom swell,

For — the words were his who fell

In the battle down the dell,

And who is happy now!

And he spoke to re-asure me,

And he kissed my pallid brow —

But a reverie came o’re me,

And to the church-yard bore me,

And I sighed to him before me,

“O, I am happy now!”

And thus they said I plighted

An irrevocable vow —

And my friends are all delighted

That his love I have requited —

And my mind is much benighted

If I am not happy now!

Lo! the ring is on my hand,

And the wreath is on my brow —

Satins and jewels grand,

And many a rood of land,

Are all at my command,

And I must be happy now!

I have spoken — I have spoken —

They have registered the vow —

And though my faith be broken,

And though my heart be broken,

Behold the golden token

That proves me happy now!

Would God I could awaken!

For I dream — I know not how!

And my soul is sorely shaken,

Lest an evil step be taken,

And the dead who is forsaken

May not be happy now!


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Notes:

It has been noted that this is a great rarity in Poe's works, for the speaker is a woman. Readers of this poem should also refer to Poe's earlier “Song.”

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[S:0 - SLM, 1837] - Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - Works - Poems - Bridal Ballad (Text-02b)