Eldorado

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)

            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!”

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Written in the year of his death, I like to think that this poem is autobiographical and that Poe was looking forward to the Heavenly City of Gold.