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I.
[[n]]
Thy soul shall find itself alone
[[v]]
’Mid dark thoughts of the gray tomb-stone —
[[v]]
Not one, of all the crowd, to pry
Into thine hour of secrecy:
II.
[[n]]
5
Be silent in that solitude,
Which is not loneliness — for then [page 24:]
The spirits of the dead who stood
In life before thee are again
In death around thee — and their will
10
[[v]]
Shall overshadow thee: be still.
III.
[[v]]
[[n]]
The night — tho’ clear — shall frown —
And the stars shall look not down,
[[v]]
From their high thrones in the heaven,
With light like Hope to mortals given —
15
[[n]]
But their red orbs, without beam,
[[v]]
To thy weariness shall seem
[[v]]
As a burning and a fever
[[n]]
Which would cling to thee for ever:
IV.
[[v]]
[[n]]
Now are thoughts thou shalt not banish —
20
[[v]]
Now are visions ne’er to vanish —
[[v]]
From thy spirit shall they pass
[[v]]
[[n]]
No more — like dew-drop from the grass.
V.
[[v]]
[[n]]
The breeze — the breath of God — is still —
[[v]]
[[n]]
And the mist upon the hill [page 25:]
25
[[v]]
Shadowy — shadowy — yet unbroken,
[[v]]
Is a symbol and a token —
[[v]]
How it hangs upon the trees,
[[v]]
A mystery of mysteries! —
(1827)
[The following variants appear at the bottom of page 23:]
Title Visit of the Dead (1827).
2 Alone of all on earth — unknown (1827).
3 The cause — but none are near to pry (1827).
[The following variants appear at the bottom of page 24:]
10 overshadow: then o’ershadow (1827).
11 The: For the (1827).
13 From their thrones, in the dark heav’n (1827).
16 weariness: withering heart (1827).
17 fever: ferver (1827).
19 But ‘twill leave thee, as each star (1827).
20 In the morning light afar (1827).
21 Wildly thee — and vanish (1827).
22 But its thought thou can'st not banish (1827).
23 The breath of God will be still (1827).
24 mist: with (1827).
[The following variants appear at the bottom of page 25:]
25 By that summer breeze unbrok’n (1827).
26 Shall charm thee — as a token (1827).
27 And a symbol which shall be (1827).
28 Secrecy in thee (1827).
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Notes:
None.
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[S:0 - KCP, 1917] - Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - Works - Spirits of the Dead (ed. K. Campbell, 1917)