Names: Layague, Christian Janus M.

Program/ Year/ Block: BPED 2B

Lepasana, Carmina Jane J.
Legaspi, Riena April T.
Magan, Ma. Mechaela T.

Literary Genre: Poetry

Poetry is often considered as the oldest form of literature. Before writing was invented,
oral stories were commonly put into some sort of poetic form to make them easier to remember
and recite. Poems are heavy in imagery and metaphor and are often made up of fragments and
phrases rather than complete, grammatically correct sentences.
Our group was assigned to give examples of literary pieces of the poetry genre. We
decided to give examples of poems from only one author/poet of our choice to have a
uniformity. It was a little bit hard for us to pick only one author because there are lots of
remarkable and good authors to choose from. In the end we end up with a decision. The author
that we chose was Edgar Allan Poe. One of the reasons why we picked him is that he is an
overall writer, poet, critic, and editor and is best known for evocative short stories and poems
that captured the imagination and interest of readers around the world.

The following are Edgar Allan Poe’s poems chosen by our group:

“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 lov’d—I lov’d alone—
Then—in my childhood—in the dawn
Of a most stormy life—was drawn
From ev’ry 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 roll’d
In its autumn tint of gold—
From the lightning in the sky
As it pass’d 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—
 ‘Alone’ was chosen by our groupmate, Carmina Jane Lepasana. She shared her
opinions and told us these words, “I think this poem illustrates how gloomy and troubled his life
was and how he saw the world differently as others. He lost everything he had, everyone who
he cared for. He always sees the darkness in everything , even when joy presents itself he
cannot embrace it enough to overcast the sadness and sorrow he felt in his heart.”
Carmina then added, “ I choose this poem, Alone by Edgar Allan Poe, because I can feel
and relate how hard it is for him at a young age facing the hardships of life, although he is alone
and he faces a lot of suffering, he still chose to live and continue no matter how much of a
pessimist he was.”

Annabel Lee
BY EDGAR ALLAN POE
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,

In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was more than love—
I and my Annabel Lee—
With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,

In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsmen came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,

Went envying her and me—
Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love

Of those who were older than we—
Of many far wiser than we—
And neither the angels in Heaven above
Nor the demons down under the sea
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
 For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea—
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

‘Annabel Lee’ was chosen by our groupmate, Ma. Mechaela Magan. She shared her
opinions and told us these words, “In summary, the narrator of the poem tells us his love for
Annabel Lee, who lived in a kingdom by the sea. The two of them were childhood sweethearts,
but Annabel Lee caught a chill one day and died. The narrator believes that the angels in
heaven took Annabel Lee from him because they were jealous of the love he and Annabel
shared. Her relatives buried her in a sepulchre, which the narrator of the poem continues to
visit, so that he can be ‘together’ with his dead beloved, Annabel Lee.”
Mechaela then added, “I choose the Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe, because ‘Annabel
Lee’ as a representation of love: the young speaker, very artistically draws the picture of his
eternal love. The poem revolves around the intense love of the speaker. This shows what love
can do and how true love really means.”

To the River ——
Edgar Allan Poe

Fair river! in thy bright, clear flow

Of crystal, wandering water,
Thou art an emblem of the glow
Of beauty—the unhidden heart—
The playful maziness of art
In old Alberto’s daughter;

But when within thy wave she looks—

Which glistens then, and trembles—
Why, then, the prettiest of brooks
Her worshipper resembles;
For in my heart, as in thy stream,
Her image deeply lies—
His heart which trembles at the beam
Of her soul-searching eyes.

‘To the River’ was chosen by our groupmate, Riena April Legaspi. She shared her
opinions and told us these words, “ I chose To the River by Edgar Allan Poe because it is about
how he shows his affection to the beautiful woman he in love or what is his affection is like and
how he is just distracted by the woman’s beauty. The poem is wonderful not only about love but
also about his true impression of the woman.
 Eldorado
BY EDGAR ALLAN POE

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 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!’

‘Eldorado’ was chosen by our groupmate, Christian Janus Layague. He shared his
opinions and told us these words, “Edgar’s Eldorado really got me. We all know that Edgar Allan
Poe’s poems are all good and intrinsically beautiful. It was really hard for me to choose a poem
by him. His Alone and Annabel Lee were beautiful masterpieces from him too. But in the end, I
was hooked by his Eldorado. I don’t know why but this poem was way something more for me.
Also, I was curious and amazed how he always put the word ‘shadow’ in the middle lines of
each stanzas.”
Janus then added, “After I repeatedly read this poem, I realized that the word ‘shadow’ in
every stanza speaks for different meanings. The shadow in the first stanza speaks for the literal
shadow. The shadow in the second stanza in my opinion refers to the feeling of gloom and
despair. The shadow in the third stanza means like a ghost for me. And the shadow in the last
stanza speaks for the shadow of death.”
Janus also shared his realization and lesson to us as he told us that, “As I’m curious
about the meaning of Eldorado, I search it up online and learned that Eldorado means a place
of great richness. After knowing this, I then realized that we are like the gallant knight who are
always seeking for Eldorado. We journey in life and meet different shadows on our way. And in
the end of the long journey, we will understand that Eldorado does not exist in the living world or
in this physical realm because Eldorado is a place not of physical treasure but spiritual ones.
We will realize that love, faith, knowledge, and wisdom are the true treasures that we will find in
Eldorado.”

“We may like and choose different poems, but one thing for us
is the same – that we can all relate and be inspired by Edgar Allan
Poe’s poem. He is truly a masterpiece making masterpieces.”

– Janus, Carmina, Mechaela, Riena