To One in Paradise by Edgar Allan Poe

One of my most favorite writers, Edgar Allan Poe, indulges us with one of his most memorable pieces: To One in Paradise. Enjoy!

 To One in Paradise
(1834)
by Edgar Allan Poe
(1809-1849)

Thou wast all that to me, love,
    For which my soul did pine —
A green isle in the sea, love,
    A fountain and a shrine,
All wreathed with fairy fruits and flowers,
    And all the flowers were mine.

    Ah, dream too bright to last!
        Ah, starry Hope! that didst arise
    But to be overcast!
        A voice from out the Future cries,
    "On! on!" —but o'er the Past
        (Dim gulf!) my spirit hovering lies
    Mute, motionless, aghast!

    For, alas! alas! with me
        The light of Life is o'er!
    No more —no more —no more —
        (Such language holds the solemn sea
    To the sands upon the shore)
        Shall bloom the thunder-blasted tree,
    Or the stricken eagle soar!

    And all my days are trances,
        And all my nightly dreams
    Are where thy gray eye glances,
        And where thy footsteps gleams —
    In what ethereal dances,
        By what eternal streams.

† Jofer