Text: Edgar Allan Poe, “Sonnet — to Science” (Text-04b), in “The Island of the Fay,” Graham's Magazine, vol. 18, no. 6, June 1841, p. 253

SCIENCE, true daughter of old Time thou art,

Who alterest all things with thy peering eyes!

Why prey'st thou thus upon the poet's heart,

Vulture, whose wings are dull realities? [[!]]

How should he love thee, or how deem thee wise,

Who wouldst not leave him, in his wandering,

To seek for treasure in the jewelled skies,

Albeit be [[he]] soared with an undaunted wing?

Hast thou not dragged Diana from her car?

And driven the Hamadryad from the wood?

Hast thou not spoilt a story in each star?

Hast thou not torn the Naiad from her flood?

The elfin from the grass? — the dainty fay,

The witch, the sprite, the goblin — where are they? Anon.