Text: Edgar Allan Poe, “Lenore” (Comparative Text - Saturday Museum and Evening Mirror)


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Texts Represented:

  • 1843-01 - Saturday Museum (February 25 and March 4, 1843)
  • 1844-02 - Evening Mirror (November 28, 1844)

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Title: {{1843-01: LENORE. }}

Line-01-001: Ah, broken is the golden bowl {{1843-01: ! [[new line]] [[indented]] The //1844-02: — the }} spirit flown forever!

Line-01-002: Let the bell toll! {{1843-01: [[new line]] A //1844-02: — a }} saintly soul {{1843-01: [[new line]] [[indented]] Floats //1844-02: floats }} on the Stygian river {{1843-01: ! //1844-02: . }}

Line-01-003: {{1843-01: And let the burial rite be read! — [[new line]] [[indented]] The funeral song be sung — //1844-02: [[line moved to Line-02-005, and revised]] }}

Line-01-004: {{1843-01: A dirge for the most lovely dead [[new line]] [[indented]] That ever died so young! // 1844-02: [[line moved to Line-02-006, and revised]] }}

Line-01-005: And, Guy De Vere, {{1843-01: [[new line]] Hast // 1844-02: hast }} thou no tear? {{1843-01: [[new line]] [[indented]] Weep //1844-02: weep }} now or nevermore {{1843-01: ! //1844-02:}}

Line-01-006: See! on yon drear {{1843-01: [[new line]] And // 1844-02: and }} rigid bier {{1843-01: [[new line]] [[indented]] Low // 1844-02: low }} lies thy love {{1843-01: , }} Lenore {{1843-01: ! //1844-02: . }}

{{1843-01:

Line-01-007: “Yon heir, whose cheeks of pallid hue

Line-01-008: [[indented]] With tears are streaming wet, [[new line]] Sees only, through

Line-01-009: Their crocodile dew, [[new line]] A vacant coronet —

//1844-02:

Line-02-005: {{1843-01: And //1844-02: Come! }} let the burial rite be read {{1843-01: ! — [[new line]] The //1844-02: , the }} funeral song be sung {{1844-02: , }}[[line moved from Line-01-003, and revised]]

Line-02-006: {{1843-01: A dirge //1844-02: An anthem }} for the {{1843-01: most lovely //1844-02: queenliest }} dead {{1843-01: [[new line]] [[indented]] That //1844-02;: that }} ever died so young. [[line moved from Line-01-004, and revised]]

}}

Line-01-010: {{1843-01: False friends //1844-02: “Wretches }} ! ye {{1843-01: lov’d //1844-02: loved }} her for her wealth, {{1843-01: [[new line]] [[indented]] And //1844-02: and ye }} hated her for her pride,

Line-01-011: {{1844-02: “  }} And {{1843-01: , }} when she fell in feeble health, {{1843-01: [[new line]] [[indented]] Ye bless’d //1844-02: ye blessed }} her — that she died.

Line-01-012: {{1844-02: “  }} How shall the ritual {{1843-01: , }} then {{1843-01: , }} be read {{1843-01: ? [[new line]] [[indented]] The //1844-02: — the }} requiem how be sung

Line-01-013: {{1843-01: For her, most wrong’d of all the dead //1844-02: “By you — by yours the evil eye, by yours the slanderous tongue }}

Line-01-014: {{1843-01: [[indented]] //1844-02: “  }} That {{1843-01: ever died //1844-02: did to death the innocence that perished }} so young? {{1843-01:  ” }}

Line-01-015: Peccavimus; {{1843-01: [[new line]] But //1844-02: yet }} rave not thus {{1843-01: ! [[new line]] [[indented]] And //1844-02: , and }} let {{1843-01: the solemn //1844-02: a Sabbath }} song

Line-01-016: {{ [[indented]] }} Go up to God so {{1843-01: mournfully that she //1844-02: solemnly the dead }} may feel no wrong {{1843-01: ! //1844-02: ; }}

Line-01-017: {{1843-01: The //1844-02: She — }} sweet Lenore {{1843-01: [[new line]] Hath //1844-02: — hath }} “gone before {{1844-02: , }}  ” {{1843-01: [[new line]] [[indented]] With young //1844-02: with }} Hope {{1843-01: at her side //1844-02: that flew beside }} ,

Line-01-018: {{1843-01: And thou art //1844-02: Leaving thee }} wild {{1843-01: [[new line]] For //1844-02: for }} the dear child {{1843-01: [[new line]] [[indented]] That //1844-02: that }} should have been thy bride —

Line-01-019: For her {{1843-01: , }} the fair {{1843-01: [[new line]] And debonair, [[new line]] That //1844-02: and debonair that }} now so lowly lies {{1843-01://1844-02: , }}

Line-01-020: The life {{1843-01: still there, [[new line]] Upon // 1844-02: upon }} her {{1844-02: yellow }} hair {{1843-01: , [[new line]] The death //1844-02: but not }} upon her eyes {{1843-01: , //1844-02:}}

Line-01-021: “Avaunt {{1844-02: ! }} — to-night {{1843-01: [[new line]] My //1844-02: my }} heart is light — {{1843-01: [[new line]] No //1844-02: no }} dirge will I upraise,

Line-01-022: {{1844-02: “  }} But waft the angel on her flight {{1843-01: [[new line]] With //1844-02: with }} a Pæan of old days!

Line-01-023: {{1844-02: “  }} Let no bell toll! {{1843-01: [[new line]] Lest //1844-02: — lest }} her sweet soul, {{1843-01: [[new line]] Amid //1844-02: amid }} its {{1843-01: hallow’d //1844-02: hallowed }} mirth,

Line-01-024: {{1844-02: “  }} Should catch the note {{1843-01: , [[new line]] As //1844-02: as }} it doth float {{1843-01: [[new line]] Up // 1844-02: up }} from the {{1843-01: damnéd earth //1844-02: damned Earth }} .

Line-01-025: {{1844-02: “  }} To friends above, from fiends below, th’ indignant ghost is riven —

Line-02-023: {{1844-02: “From Hell unto a high estate far up within the Heaven — }}

Line-01-026: {{1844-02: “  }} From grief and moan {{1843-01: [[new line]] To //1844-02: to }} a gold throne {{1843-01: [[new line]] Beside //1844-02: beside }} the King of Heaven![[”]]


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Notes:

For an explanation of the formatting used in this Comparative Text, see editorial policies and methods. This format is very much an experiment, particularly for poetry.

Because these changes reflect two different printed texts, pagination has been omitted in the present text.

Many of the formatting changes appear to have been made for the sake of producing the long-line version of the text. Consequently, the base text has been presented in the long-line form, with indications of the line breaks in the earlier text. The base line numbers reflect the early text, as if it had been printed in the long-line form. Lines that have been moved are inserted at the appropriate point, with a note and line numbers that end with a sequencing letter.

The extent of changes makes this comparison text extremely difficult to present clearly.


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[S:0 - comparative] - Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - Works - Poems - Lenore (Comparative Text - PSM and NYEM)