A Valentine
For her this rhyme is penned, whose luminous eyes,Brightly expressive as the twins of Lœda,Shall find her own sweet name, that, nestling liesUpon the page enwrapped from every reader.Search narrowly the lines!—they hold a treasureDivine—a talisman—an amuletThat must be worn at heart. Search well the measure—The words—the syllables! Do not forgetThe trivialest point, or you may lose your labour!And yet there is in this no Gordian knotWhich one might not undo without a sabre,If one could merely comprehend the plot.Enwritten upon the leaf where now are peeringEyes’ scintillating soul, there lie perdusThree eloquent words oft uttered in the hearingOf poets, by poets—as the name is a poet’s, too.Its letters, although naturally lyingLike the knight Pinto—Mendez Ferdinando—Still form a synonym for Truth.—Cease trying!You will not read the riddle, though you do the best youcan do.
Words in this poem
- penned a.
- Winged; having plumes.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- nestling n.
- A young bird which has not abandoned the nest. Piers Plowman.
- sabre n.
- A sword with a broad and heavy blade, thick at the back, and usually more or less curved like a scimiter; a cavalry sword. Saber fish, or Sabre fish (Zoöl.), the cutlass fish.
- pinto a.
- Lit., painted; hence, piebald; mottled; pied.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Valentine is in the public domain. This text is taken from The poetical works of Edgar Allan Poe, Project Gutenberg ebook #79019; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edgar Allan Poe, A Valentine, in The Raven, and Other Poems (1827–1849), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #79019, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poe-poems/a-valentine.html, id L04150.
Form and metre
A Valentine is 21 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 48% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 A-A-BCBCDEDEF-FGH-HGG eyesA · lœda · liesA · reader · treasureB · amuletC · measureB · forgetC · labourD · knotE · sabreD · plotE · peeringF · perdus · hearingF · tooG · lyingH · ferdinando · tryingH · youG · doG
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| For her this rhyme is penned, whose luminous eyes, | 11 | ·······/˘˘· |
| Brightly expressive as the twins of Lœda, | 11 | /˘˘/˘······ |
| Shall find her own sweet name, that, nestling lies | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Upon the page enwrapped from every reader. | 12 | ·······/˘˘/˘ |
| Search narrowly the lines!—they hold a treasure | 11 | ·/˘˘·····/˘ |
| Divine—a talisman—an amulet | 10 | ˘/·/˘˘·/˘˘ |
| That must be worn at heart. Search well the measure— | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| The words—the syllables! Do not forget | 10 | ···/˘˘··˘/ |
| The trivialest point, or you may lose your labour! | 11 | ·/˘······/· |
| And yet there is in this no Gordian knot | 11 | ·······/˘˘· |
| Which one might not undo without a sabre, | 11 | ····˘/···/˘ |
| If one could merely comprehend the plot. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Enwritten upon the leaf where now are peering | 12 | ··········/˘ |
| Eyes’ scintillating soul, there lie perdus | 10 | ·········· |
| Three eloquent words oft uttered in the hearing | 12 | ·/˘˘··/˘··/˘ |
| Of poets, by poets—as the name is a poet’s, too. | 14 | ·/˘·/˘·····/˘· |
| Its letters, although naturally lying | 11 | ·/˘··/˘˘˘/˘ |
| Like the knight Pinto—Mendez Ferdinando— | 11 | ···/·/˘···· |
| Still form a synonym for Truth.—Cease trying! | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| You will not read the riddle, though you do the best you | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| can do. | 2 | ·· |
On this poem
Notes from the edition 6
Notes by J. Montgomery Gambrill, Selections from Poe (Boston, 1907; Project Gutenberg #8893).
- Line 2 twins of Leda: Castor and Pollux, two stars in the constellation Gemini. For the myth consult Gayley's "Classic Myths."
- Line 3 her own sweet name: Frances Sargent Osgood. See note on the lines "To F---- ," page 185.
- Line 10 Gordian knot. Explain this; consult an encyclopedia.
- Line 14 perdus: lost, a French word introduced to rhyme with "too."
- Line 17 lying: used in a double sense.
- Line 18 Mendez Ferdinando Pinto, a Portuguese traveler (1509-1583), was said to have been the first white man to visit Japan. He wrote an account of his travels, which at the time was considered mere romancing.
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.