Text: Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane” (Comparative Text - ATMP and POEMS)

 

Title: TAMERLANE.

 

Rule: {{1829-01: ———— //1831-02: —— }}

 

Stanza: {{1829-01: 1 //1831-02: I. }}

 

Line-01-001: Kind solace in a dying hour! {{1829-01: — }}

Line-01-002: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Such, father, is not (now) my theme {{1829-01: — {{1831-02: : }}

Line-01-003: I will not madly {{1829-01: deem {{1831-02: think }} that power

Line-01-004: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Of {{1829-01: Earth {{1831-02: earth }} may shrive me of the sin

Line-01-005: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Unearthly pride hath revell’d in —

Line-01-006: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} I have no time to dote or dream:

Line-01-007: You call it hope — that fire of fire!

Line-01-008: It is but agony of desire {{1829-01: : {{1831-02: — }}

Line-01-009: If I {{1829-01: can {{1831-02: can }} hope {{1829-01: — Oh {{1831-02: (O }} God! I can {{1829-01: — {{1831-02: ) }}

Line-01-010: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Its fount is holier — more divine —

Line-01-011: I would not call thee fool, old man,

Line-01-012: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} But such is not a gift of thine.

 

Stanza: {{1829-01: 2 //1831-02: II. }}

 

Line-01-013: {{1829-01: Know {{1831-02: Hear }} thou the secret of a spirit

Line-01-014: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Bow’d from its wild pride into shame.

Line-01-015: O {{1829-01: ! }} yearning heart! {{1831-02: ( }} I did inherit

Line-01-016: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Thy withering portion with the fame,

Line-01-017: The searing glory which hath shone

Line-01-018: Amid the jewels of my throne,

Line-01-019: Halo of Hell! and with a pain

Line-01-020: Not Hell shall make me fear again {{1829-01: — {{1831-02: ) }}

Line-01-021: O {{1829-01: ! }} craving heart {{1829-01: , }} for the lost flowers

Line-01-022: And sunshine of my summer hours!

Line-01-023: {{1829-01: Th’ {{1831-02: The }} undying voice of that dead time,

Line-01-024: With its interminable chime,

Line-01-025: Rings {{1829-01: , }} in the spirit of a spell,

Line-01-026: Upon thy emptiness {{1831-02: , }} — a knell.

 

Stanza: {{1829-01: 3 //1831-02: III. }}

 

Line-01-027: I have not always been as now:

Line-01-028: The fever’d diadem on my brow {{1831-02: , }}

Line-01-029: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} I claim’d and won usurpingly {{1829-01: —— //1831-02: — }}

Line-01-030: {{1829-01: Hath //1831-02: Hath }} not the same {{1829-01: fierce }} heirdom given

Line-01-031: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Rome to the Caesar — this to me?

Line-01-032: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} The heritage of a kingly mind {{1829-01: , }}

Line-01-033: And a proud spirit which hath striven

Line-01-034: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Triumphantly with human kind.

 

Stanza: {{1829-01: 4 //1831-02: IV. }}

 

Line-01-035: On mountain soil I first drew life {{1829-01: : // 1831-02: — }}

Line-01-036: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} The mists of the Taglay have shed

Line-01-037: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Nightly their dews upon my head,

Line-01-038: And, I believe, the winged strife

Line-01-039: And tumult of the headlong air

Line-01-040: Hath {{1829-01: nestl’d //1831-02: nestled }} in my very hair.

 

Stanza: {{1829-01: 5 //1831-02: V. }}

 

Line-01-041: So late from Heaven — that dew — it fell

Line-01-042: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} ( {{1829-01: ’Mid // 1831-02: Mid }} dreams of an unholy night)

Line-01-043: Upon me {{1829-01: — }} with the touch of Hell,

Line-01-044: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} While the red flashing of the light

Line-01-045: From clouds that hung, like banners, o’er,

Line-01-046: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} {{1829-01: Appeared //1831-02: Appear’d }} to my half-closing eye

Line-01-047: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} The pageantry of monarchy,

Line-01-048: And the deep {{1829-01: trumpet-thunder's // 1831-02: trumpet thunder's }} roar

Line-01-049: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Came hurriedly upon me, telling

Line-01-050: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Of human battle, where my voice,

Line-01-051: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} My {{1829-01: own //1831-02: own }} voice, silly child {{1829-01: ! — //1831-02: , }} was swelling

Line-01-052: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} (O {{1829-01: ! }} how my spirit would rejoice {{1829-01: , }}

Line-01-053: And leap within me at the cry {{1831-02: ! }} )

Line-01-054: The {{1829-01: battle-cry //1831-02: battle cry }} of {{1829-01: Victory! //1831-02: victory. }}

 

Stanza: {{1829-01: 6 //1831-02: VI. }}

 

Line-01-055: The rain came down upon my head {{1831-02: , }}

Line-01-056: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Unshelter’d {{1829-01: — //1831-02: , }} and the heavy wind

Line-01-057: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Was {{1829-01: giantlike // 1831-02: giant-like }} — so thou, my mind! {{1829-01: — }}

Line-01-058: It was but man, I thought, who shed

Line-01-059: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Laurels upon me{{1829-01: : // 1831-02: — }} and the rush {{1829-01: — //1831-02: , }}

Line-01-060: The torrent of the chilly air {{1831-02: , }}

Line-01-061: Gurgled within my ear the crush

Line-01-062: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Of empires {{1829-01: — // 1831-02: , }} with the captive's prayer {{1829-01: — //1831-02: , }}

Line-01-063: The hum of suiters {{1829-01: — //1831-02: , }} and the tone

Line-01-064: Of flattery {{1829-01: ’round //1831-02: , round }} a sovereign's throne.

 

Stanza: {{1829-01: 7 //1831-02: VII. }}

 

Line-01-065: My passions {{1829-01: , }} from that hapless hour {{1829-01: , }}

Line-01-066: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Usurp’d a tyranny which men

Line-01-067: Have deem’d, since I have reach’d to power;

Line-01-068: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} My innate nature — be it so:

Line-01-069: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} But, father, there liv’d one who {{1829-01: , }} then {{1829-01: , //1831-02: — }}

Line-01-070: Then {{1829-01: — }} in my {{1829-01: boy-hood — //1831-02: boyhood }} when their fire

Line-01-071: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Burn’d with a still intenser glow,

Line-01-072: (For passion must {{1829-01: , }} with youth {{1829-01: , }} expire)

Line-01-073: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} E’en {{1829-01: then //1831-02: then }} who knew {{1829-01: this iron heart //1831-02: that as infinite }}

Line-01-074: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} {{1829-01: In woman's //1831-02: My soul — so was the }} weakness {{1829-01: had a part //1831-02: in it }} .

 

Stanza: {{1829-01: 8 //1831-02: IX. }}

 

Line-01-075: {{1831-02: And O! }} I have no words {{1829-01: — alas! — }} to tell

Line-01-076: The loveliness of loving well!

Line-01-077: {{1829-01: Nor would }} I {{1831-02: will not }} now attempt to trace

Line-01-078: The more than beauty of a face

Line-01-079: Whose lineaments {{1829-01: , }} upon my mind {{1829-01: , }}

Line-01-080: Are {{1829-01: —— }} shadows on {{1829-01: th’ //1831-02: the }} unstable wind {{1829-01: : //1831-02: . }}

Line-01-081: {{1829-01: Thus }} I remember having dwelt {{1831-02: , }}

Line-01-082: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} {{1829-01: Some page //1831-02: Pages }} of early lore upon,

Line-01-083: With loitering eye {{1829-01: , }} till I have felt

Line-01-084: The letters {{1829-01: — }} with their meaning {{1829-01: — }} melt

Line-01-085: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} To fantasies — with none.

 

Stanza: {{1829-01: 9 //1831-02: X. }}

 

Line-01-086: {{1829-01: O! //1831-02: Was }} she {{1829-01: was // 1831-02: not }} worthy of all love {{1829-01: ! //1831-02: ? }}

Line-01-087: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Love {{1829-01: — }} as in infancy was mine —

Line-01-088: ’Twas such as angel minds above

Line-01-089: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Might envy {{1829-01: ; // 1831-02: — }} her young heart the shrine

Line-01-090: On which my ev’ry hope and thought

Line-01-091: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Were incense — then a goodly gift {{1829-01: , //1831-02: — }}

Line-01-092: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} For they were childish {{1829-01: — }} and upright —

Line-01-093: Pure {{1829-01: —— //1831-02: — }} as her young example taught:

Line-01-094: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Why did I leave it {{1829-01: , }} and {{1829-01: , }} adrift {{1829-01: , }}

Line-01-095: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Trust to the fire within {{1829-01: , }} for light?

 

Stanza: {{1829-01: 10 //1831-02: XI. }}

 

Line-01-096: We grew in age {{1829-01: — }} and love {{1829-01: — }} together {{1829-01: — //1831-02: , }}

Line-01-097: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Roaming the forest {{1829-01: , }} and the wild {{1829-01: ; //1831-02: , }}

Line-01-098: My breast her shield in wintry weather {{1829-01: — // 1831-02: , }}

Line-01-099: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} And {{1829-01: , }} when the friendly sunshine smil’d,

Line-01-100: And she would mark the opening skies,

Line-01-101: {{1829-01: I //1831-02: I }} saw no Heaven {{1829-01: — }} but in her eyes.

 

Stanza: {{1829-01: 11 //1831-02: XII. }}

 

Line-01-102: Young Love's first lesson is —— the heart:

Line-01-103: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} For {{1829-01: 'mid // 1831-02: mid }} that sunshine {{1829-01: , }} and those smiles,

Line-01-104: When {{1829-01: , }} from our little cares apart,

Line-01-105: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} And laughing at her girlish wiles,

Line-01-106: I’d {{1829-01: throw me on //1831-02: lean upon }} her {{1829-01: throbbing //1831-02: gentle }} breast,

Line-01-107: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} And pour my spirit out in tears {{1829-01: — //1831-02: , }}

Line-01-107: There was no need to speak the rest {{1829-01: — // 1831-02: , }}

Line-01-109: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} No need to quiet any fears

Line-01-110: Of {{1829-01: her //1831-02: hers }} — who ask’d no reason why,

Line-01-111: But turn’d on me her quiet eye {{1829-01: ! // 1831-02: . }}

 

Stanza: {{1829-01: 12 //1831-02: XIII. }}

 

Line-01-116: I had no being {{1829-01: — }} but in thee:

Line-01-117: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} The world {{1829-01: , }} and all it did contain {{1831-02: , }}

Line-01-118: In the earth — the air — the sea {{1829-01: — //1831-02: , }}

Line-01-119: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} {{1829-01: Its joy — its little lot //1831-02: Of pleasure or }} of pain {{1831-02: — }}

Line-01-120: {{1829-01: That was new pleasure —— //1831-02: The good, the bad, }} the ideal,

Line-01-121: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Dim {{1829-01: , }} vanities of dreams by night {{1829-01: — //1831-02: , }}

Line-01-122: And dimmer nothings which were real {{1829-01: — // 1831-02: , }}

Line-01-123: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} (Shadows {{1829-01: — }} and a more shadowy light {{1829-01: ! }} )

Line-01-124: Parted upon their misty wings,

Line-01-125: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} And, so, confusedly, became

Line-01-126: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Thine image and {{1829-01: — }} a name — a name!

Line-01-127: Two separate {{1829-01: — }} yet most intimate things.

 

 

Stanza: {{1829-01: 14 //1831-02: XIV. }}

 

Line-01-139: We walk’d together on the crown

Line-01-140: Of a high mountain which look’d down

Line-01-141: Afar from its proud natural towers

Line-01-142: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Of rock and forest {{1829-01: , }} on the hills —

Line-01-143: The dwindled hills! begirt with bowers

Line-01-144: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} And shouting with a thousand rills.

 

Stanza: {{1829-01: 15 //1831-02: XV. }}

 

Line-01-145: I spoke to her of power and pride,

Line-01-146: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} But mystically {{1829-01: — //1831-02: , }} in such guise

Line-01-147: That she might deem it nought beside

Line-01-148: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} The {{1829-01: moment's // 1831-02: moments’ }} converse {{1829-01: ; //1831-02: — }} in her eyes

Line-01-149: I read {{1829-01: , //1831-02: — }} perhaps too carelessly —

Line-01-150: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} A mingled feeling with my own —

Line-01-151: The flush {{1829-01: on //1831-02: upon }} her bright cheek {{1829-01: , }} to me

Line-01-152: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Seem’d {{1829-01: to become //1831-02: fitted for }} a queenly throne {{1831-02: , }}

Line-01-153: Too well that I should let it be {{1831-02: , }}

Line-01-154: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Light in the wilderness alone.

 

Stanza: {{1829-01: 16 //1831-02: XVI. }}

 

Line-01-155: I wrapp’d myself in grandeur then {{1829-01: , }}

Line-01-156: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} And donn’d a visionary crown {{1829-01: —— //1831-02: — }}

Line-01-157: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Yet it was not that Fantasy

Line-01-158: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Had thrown her mantle over me {{1829-01: — //1831-02: , }}

Line-01-159: But that {{1829-01: , }} among the rabble {{1829-01: — }} men,

Line-01-160: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Lion ambition is chain’d down {{1829-01: — //1831-02: , }}

Line-01-161: And crouches to a keeper's hand {{1829-01: — // 1831-02: , }}

Line-01-162: Not so in deserts where the grand {{1831-02: , }}

Line-01-163: The wild {{1829-01: — //1831-02: , }} the terrible {{1831-02: , }} conspire

Line-01-164: With their own breath to fan {{1829-01: his //1831-02: its }} fire.

 

 

Stanza: {{1829-01: 18 //1831-02: XVIII. }}

 

Line-01-177: O {{1829-01: ! }} human love! thou spirit given {{1829-01: , }}

Line-01-178: On {{1829-01: Earth, //1831-02: earth }} of all we hope in Heaven!

Line-01-179: Which {{1829-01: fall'st //1831-02: fallest }} into the soul like rain

Line-01-180: Upon the {{1829-01: Siroc wither’d //1831-02: Siroc-wither’d }} plain,

Line-01-181: And failing {{1829-01: in //1831-02: of }} thy power to bless {{1831-02: , }}

Line-01-182: But {{1829-01: leav'st //1831-02: leaves }} the heart a wilderness!

Line-01-183: Idea {{1829-01: ! }} which bindest life around {{1831-02: , }}

Line-01-184: With music of so strange a sound {{1831-02: , }}

Line-01-185: And beauty of so wild a birth —

Line-01-186: Farewell! for I have won the {{1829-01: Earth! //1831-02: earth. }}

 

Stanza: {{1829-01: 19 //1831-02: XIX. }}

 

Line-01-187: When {{1829-01: Hope //1831-02: hope }} , the eagle that tower’d, could see

Line-01-188: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} No cliff beyond him in the sky,

Line-01-189: His pinions were bent droopingly {{1829-01: — // 1831-02: , }}

Line-01-190: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} And homeward turn’d his soften’d eye.

 

Stanza: {{1829-01: 20 //1831-02: XX. }}

 

Line-01-191: ’Twas sunset: when the sun will part {{1831-02: , }}

Line-01-192: There comes a sullenness of heart

Line-01-193: To him who still would look upon

Line-01-194: The glory of the summer sun.

Line-01-195: That soul will hate the {{1829-01: ev’ning // 1831-02: evening }} mist {{1831-02: , }}

Line-01-196: So often lovely, and will list

Line-01-197: To the sound of the coming darkness (known

Line-01-198: To those whose spirits harken) as one

Line-01-199: Who {{1829-01: , }} in a dream of night {{1829-01: , would //1831-02: would }} fly {{1831-02: , }}

Line-01-200: But {{1829-01: cannot //1831-02: cannot }} from a danger nigh.

 

Stanza: {{1829-01: 21 //1831-02: XXI. }}

 

Line-01-201: What tho’ the moon — the white moon {{1831-02: — }}

Line-01-202: Shed all the {{1829-01: splendor //1831-02: beauty }} of her noon,

Line-01-203: {{1829-01: Her //1831-02: Her }} smile is chilly {{1829-01: — //1831-02: , }} and {{1829-01: her //1831-02: her }} beam {{1829-01: , }}

Line-01-204: In that time of dreariness {{1829-01: , }} will seem

Line-01-205: (So like you gather in your breath)

Line-01-206: A portrait taken after death.

 

Stanza: {{1829-01: 22 //1831-02: XXII. }}

 

Line-01-213: I reach’d my home — my home {{1829-01: no more — //1831-02: ? above, }}

 

Stanza: {{1829-01: 23 //1831-02: XXIII. }}

 

Line-01-222: Father, I firmly do believe —

Line-01-223: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} I know — for {{1829-01: Death — //1831-02: death, }} who comes for me

Line-01-224: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} From regions of the blest afar,

Line-01-225: Where there is nothing to deceive,

Line-01-226: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Hath left his iron gate ajar,

Line-01-227: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} And rays of truth you cannot see {{1831-02: , }}

Line-01-228: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Are flashing thro’ {{1829-01: Eternity — //1831-02: eternity: }}

Line-01-229: I do believe that Eblis hath

Line-01-230: A snare in {{1829-01: ev’ry //1831-02: every }} human path —

Line-01-231: Else how {{1829-01: , }} when in the holy grove {{1831-02: , }}

Line-01-232: I {{1829-01: wandered //1831-02: wander’d }} of the idol, Love,

Line-01-233: Who daily scents his snowy wings

Line-01-234: With incense of burnt offerings {{1831-02: , }}

Line-01-235: From the most {{1829-01: unpolluted //1831-02: undefiled }} things {{1829-01: , //1831-02: ; }}

Line-01-236: Whose pleasant bowers are yet so riven

Line-01-237: Above with trelliced rays from Heaven {{1831-02: , }}

Line-01-238: No mote may shun — no tiniest fly

Line-01-239: The {{1829-01: light’ning //1831-02: lightening }} of his eagle eye —

Line-01-240: How was it that Ambition crept,

Line-01-241: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} Unseen {{1829-01: , }} amid the revels there,

Line-01-242: Till growing bold, he {{1829-01: laughed //1831-02: laugh’d }} and leapt

Line-01-243: {{1829-01: [[indented]] }} In the tangles of {{1829-01: Love's //1831-02: Loves [[Love's]] }} very hair?