Eldorado

Eldorado

by Edgar Allan Poe

 

Gaily bedight,

A galiant 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 shadow

Fell as he found

No spot of ground

That looked like Eldorado.

 

And, as his strength

Failed him at length,

He met a pilgrim shadow-

“Shadow,” said he,

“Where can it be-

This land of Eldorado?”

 

“Over the Mountains

Of the Moon,

Down the Valley of the Shadow,

Ride, boldly ride,”

The shade replied-

“If you seek for Eldorado!”

 

This poem is about the journey that a man takes to Eldorado.  Eldorado was a legend.  No one knew if it actually existed.  Therefore the man was riding towards Eldorado with the hope that he would find it.  Eldorado in many ways is the dream that we chase throughout our life.  Sometimes our dreams seem achievable and close and other times they seem difficult and far away.  I think that Poe refers to these good and bad times using the imagery of light and natural landmarks.  He says that the knight journeys “in sunshine and in shadow.” He also says that when he met the shadow, “his strength failed him.” When he meets this shadow he is giving up on his dreams.  Everything has caught up with him and it all seems too much.  He doubts himself and he does not think he can continue forward.  The shadow then describes how there will be “mountains” and “valleys” on the way to Eldorado.  These again are the ups and downs in the ride that we take toward our dreams of Eldorado.  The shadow gives the man encouraging words. He says, “Ride, boldly ride.” I think this is the message that Poe gives to his audience.  He encourages us to follow our dreams no matter how difficult they seem.  

I can definitely relate to this poem because I have my own dreams and aspirations as a student in college and I run into peaks and valleys all the time.  My dream is to graduate in my field and possibly go to graduate school.  Sometimes when I am sitting in traffic on my way to school I get discouraged and I want to quit.  Sometimes on the weekends or weekday nights when everyone else is having fun and I’m working, I want to quit.  When gas prices are sky high and I’m not making enough money, I get discouraged and I want to quit.  But the thing that keeps me going is my mom.  She is like the “shadow.”  She won’t let me give up so I keep going to school.  Then eventually gas prices plummet and suddenly I have enough money to help out my mom and still pay my own bills. This is when I reach a “peak” and it feels like it is all worth it.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  When finals are over, I will again see a light at the end of the tunnel.  The shadows and valleys slow us down but the sunshine and the peaks help us through the hard times and give us hope for the future.  So if you feel like you are in the “Valley of the shadow,” remember the words: “Ride, boldly ride,” to the land of Eldorado.

An Outsider

“Alone”

 by Edgar Allan Poe

From childhood’s hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.
Then- in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life- was drawn
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still:
From the torrent, or the fountain,
From the red cliff of the mountain,
From the sun that round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold,
From the lightning in the sky
As it passed me flying by,
From the thunder and the storm,
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view.

Poe gave this poem the title, “Alone,” however, I don’t think this is a poem about solitude.  I think it is more about the sensation of feeling alone in the world.  We have all at one time or another felt like we don’t belong.  In this poem, Poe talks about why he feels like an outsider:  “I have not been as others were; I have not seen as others saw.”  My favorite line in the poem is when Poe says, “and all I loved, I loved alone.”  I often feel the same way.  Sometimes I love things that other people could just careless about.  For example, I love sharing a meal with my family on the holidays.  There is something about it, when your there, and everyone is joking around.  I just feel safe.  I feel like I’m a part of something and I know they’re the only people who truely care about me.  Another example is when a girl gently strokes your back with her hands and this tingly feeling runs through your entire body.  I love that.  Most people will say they love money or cars or somthing that is at least less simplistic.  This is why I feel the same way as Poe does; I love alone. 

 The last lines of the poem really sum up why Poe feels like an outsider: “From the thunder and the storm, and the cloud that took that form when the rest of Heaven was blue of a demon in my view.”  Poe is saying that most people see the blue skies while he sees a cloud that looks like a demon.  Poe had a hard life.  He didn’t look around and see blue skies and rainbows.  He saw death.  I learned in school that his wife and his mother both died of tuberculosis.  Since he has had a lot more hardship in his life than most people, he saw himself as an outsider.  I feel the same way because I have also seen “a most stormy life.”