A Valentine

FOR her this rhyme is penned, whose luminous eyes,

    Brightly expressive as the twins of Leda,

Shall find her own sweet name, that nestling lies

    Upon the page, enwrapped from every reader.

Search narrowly the lines! -- they hold a treasure

    Divine -- a talisman -- an amulet

That must be worn at heart. Search well the measure --

    The words -- the syllables! Do not forget

The trivialest point, or you may lose your labor

    And yet there is in this no Gordian knot

Which one might not undo without a sabre,

    If one could merely comprehend the plot.

Enwritten upon the leaf where now are peering

    Eyes scintillating soul, there lie perdus

Three eloquent words oft uttered in the hearing

Of poets, by poets -- as the name is a poet's, too,

Its letters, although naturally lying

    Like the knight Pinto -- Mendez Ferdinando --

Still form a synonum for Truth -- Cease trying!

    You will not read the riddle, though you do the best you can do.

Edgar Allan Poe

Index to poems in the collection by Edgar Allan Poe