"The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe

On this day in 1845, according to the Associated Press, "Edgar Allan Poe's famous narrative poem 'The Raven' ('Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary . . . ') was first published in the New York Evening Mirror."

Read "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe >>

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)

"Eldorado" by Edgar Allan Poe

Here is a poem by Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) about a knight's search for the legendary place named Eldorado.


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 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."

Illustration by

William Heath Robinson

Dreams and Deeds

Here is a poem about the continuing Christ. It is a prayer of hope.


DREAMS AND DEEDS
by John Hunter

Dear Master, in Whose life I see
All that I long and fail to be;
Let Thy clear light forever shine
To shame and guide this life of mine.

Though what I dream and what I do
In my poor days are always two,
Help me, oppressed by things undone,
O Thou, Whose dreams and deeds were one.


Source of this poem, which is in the public domain: Christ in Poetry (1952), an anthology compiled and edited by Thomas Curtis Clark and Hazel Davis Clark

"Auld Lang Syne" by Robert Burns

Read the classic poem "Auld Lang Syne" by Robert Burns (1759-1796). Happy New Year 2018!

Robert Burns

Scottish poet

The Tenors - "Auld Lang Syne" by Robert Burns

My Gift: A Pair of Quotations

What can I give Him,

Poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd

I would bring a lamb,

If I were a wise man

I would do my part, --

Yet what I can I give Him,

Give my heart.

-- Christina G. Rossetti, 1872

"Give me thy heart," says the Saviour of men,

Calling in mercy again and again;

"Turn now from sin, and from evil depart,

Have I not died for thee? give me thy heart."

"Give me thy heart, give me thy heart,"

Hear the soft whisper, wherever thou art:

From this dark world He would draw thee apart;

Speaking so tenderly, "Give me thy heart."

-- Eliza E. Hewitt, 1926