to my mother

Edgar Allen Poe 1809 (Boston) – 1849



Because I feel that, in the Heavens above,
The angels, whispering to one another,
Can find, among their burning terms of love,
None so devotional as that of "Mother,"
Therefore by that dear name I long have called you—
You who are more than mother unto me,
And fill my heart of hearts, where Death installed you
In setting my Virginia's spirit free.
My mother—my own mother, who died early,
Was but the mother of myself; but you
Are mother to the one I loved so dearly,
And thus are dearer than the mother I knew
By that infinity with which my wife
Was dearer to my soul than its soul-life

About this poem

written by Edgar Allan Poe

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Written on July 07, 1849

Submitted on April 26, 2024

36 sec read
1

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCDCDDCDCEE
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 593
Words 119
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

Edgar Allen Poe

Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston Massachusetts on January 19, 1809 and died 40 years later on October 7, 1849 Poe was an American writer, poet, author, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism and Gothic fiction in the United States, and of American literature. He was one of the country's earliest practitioners of the short story, and is considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre, as well as a significant contributor to the emerging genre of science fiction. He is the first well-known American writer to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career. which led him to self-medicating and becoming of the first popularized alcoholics in western literature. more…

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    "to my mother" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/186036/to-my-mother>.

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