Page:Edgar Allan Poe - how to know him.djvu/256

 236 EDGAR ALLAN POE �And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side �Of my darling my darling my life and my bride, �In the sepulchre there by the sea �In her tomb by the sounding sea. �ELDORADO (1849) �['This poem," says Killis Campbell, "like the tale Von Kempelen and his Discovery, is a product of 'the 'gold-excitement' of '49 and one of many evidences of Poe's interest in contemporary matters." It is com- pact of high idealism and urgent resolve, and forms a fitting close to the life of one who, however the feet faltered, kept the vision always in front. Read it in the light of these words, written by Poe to F. W. Thomas on February 14, 1849: "Depend upon it after all, Thomas, literature is the most noble of profes- sions. In fact, it is about the only one fit for a man. For my own part there is no seducing me from the path. I shall be a litterateur at least, all my life ; nor would I abandon the hopes which still lead me on for all the gold in California. Talking of gold and of the temptation at present held out to 'poor-devil authors/ did it ever occur to you that all that is really valuable to a man of letters to a poet in especial is abso- lutely unpurchasable ? Love, fame, the dominion of intellect, the consciousness of power, the thrilling sense of beauty, the free air of Heaven, exercise of body and mind, with the physical and moral health which result these and such as these are really all that a poet cares for : then answer me this why should he go to California?"] �Gayly bedight, �A gallant knight, In sunshine and in shadow, �Had journeyed long, �Singing a song, In search of Eldorado. ��� �