Eldorado
Gaily bedight,A gallant knight,In sunshine and in shadow,Had journeyed long,Singing a song,In search of Eldorado.
But he grew old—This knight so bold—And o’er his heart a shadowFell as he foundNo spot of groundThat looked like Eldorado.
And, as his strengthFailed him at length,He met a pilgrim shadow—“Shadow,” said he,“Where can it be—This land of Eldorado?”
“Over the MountainsOf the Moon,Down the Valley of the Shadow,Ride, boldly ride,”The shade replied,—“If you seek for Eldorado!”
Words in this poem
- gaily adv.
- Merrily; showily. See gaily. [From Gay.]
- bedight v. t.
- To bedeck; to array or equip; to adorn.
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- boldly adv.
- In a bold manner. [AS. bealdlice.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Eldorado 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, Eldorado, in The Complete Poetical Works (1827–1849), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #79019, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poe-poems/eldorado.html, id L04173.
Form and metre
Eldorado is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.1 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic dimeter.
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 AA-BB- bedightA · knightA · shadow · longB · songB · eldorado
- 2 AA-BB- oldA · boldA · shadow · foundB · groundB · eldorado
- 3 AA-BB- strengthA · lengthA · shadow · heB · beB · eldorado
- 4 ---AA- mountains · moon · shadow · rideA · repliedA · eldorado
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 dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Gaily bedight, | 4 | /˘˘/ |
| A gallant knight, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| In sunshine and in shadow, | 7 | ·/···/· |
| Had journeyed long, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Singing a song, | 4 | /˘·· |
| In search of Eldorado. | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| But he grew old— | 4 | ···· |
| This knight so bold— | 4 | ···· |
| And o’er his heart a shadow | 7 | ·····/· |
| Fell as he found | 4 | ···· |
| No spot of ground | 4 | ···· |
| That looked like Eldorado. | 8 | ··˘··˘/˘ |
| And, as his strength | 4 | ···· |
| Failed him at length, | 4 | ···· |
| He met a pilgrim shadow— | 7 | ···/˘/· |
| “Shadow,” said he, | 4 | /··· |
| “Where can it be— | 4 | ···· |
| This land of Eldorado?” | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| “Over the Mountains | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Of the Moon, | 3 | ··· |
| Down the Valley of the Shadow, | 8 | ··/˘··/· |
| Ride, boldly ride,” | 4 | ·/˘· |
| The shade replied,— | 4 | ··˘/ |
| “If you seek for Eldorado!” | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
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.