To The River ----
by Edgar Allan Poe

US poet, critic and short story writer. Poe is best known for his macabre horror stories including The Fall of the House of Usher, The Gold Bug and The Black Cat (1842). His key poems include Lenore (1831), The Raven (1842), Ulalume (1847). He also wrote some critical essays including The Philosophy of Composition (1846), Time and Space (1844) and The Poetic Principle (1850), and a novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym (1838). Poe had a great influence on a number of writers including Arthur Conan Doyle and Jules Verne.

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To The River ----
by 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.

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To The River ---- by Edgar Allan Poe