Text: Edgar Allan Poe, “The Divine Right of Kings” (Text-02), Graham's Magazine, October 1845, 27:189


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[page 189, continued:]

THE DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS.

[column 1:]

THE only king by right divine

Is Ellen King, and were she mine

I'd strive for liberty no more,

But hug the glorious chains I wore.

Her bosom is an ivory throne,

Where tyrant virtue reigns alone; [column 2:]

No subject vice dare interfere,

To check the power that governs here.

O! would she deign to rule my fate,

I'd worship Kings and kingly state,

And hold this maxim all life long,

The King — my King — can do no wrong.

P.


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Notes:

This poem was first attributed to Poe by James H. Whitty, based on a pencilled note in a copy of Graham's Magazine owned by Frances S. Osgood. The identity of Ellen King has been disputed, but seems most likely to refer to Frances S. Osgood. Poe was writing poems addressed to her about this time, and she appears to have used “Ellen” as a pen-name.

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[S:2 - GM, 1845] - Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - Works - Poems - The Divine Right of Kings (Text-02)