Elizabeth, it surely is most fit
[Logic and common usage so commanding]
In thy own book that first thy name be writ,
Zeno and other sages notwithstanding;
And I have other reasons for so doing
Besides my innate love of contradiction;
Each poet – if a poet – in pursuing
The muses thro’ their bowers of Truth or Fiction,
Has studied very little of his part,
Read nothing, written less – in short ‘s a fool
Endued with neither soul, nor sense, nor art,
Being ignorant of one important rule,
Employed in even the theses of the school-
Called – I forget the heathenish Greek name
[Called anything, its meaning is the same]
“Always write first things uppermost in the heart.”
Credits
Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) was an American writer celebrated for his mastery of Gothic fiction, psychological horror, and lyric poetry. "Elizabeth" is an acrostic poem — the first letters of each line spell out the name Elizabeth — believed to be addressed to his childhood friend and distant cousin Elizabeth Rebecca Herring, revealing a tender, playful side rarely associated with Poe's darker reputation.
