How did we miss posting this poem last week? It was written for Frances Sargent Osgood and not for us. He did not put our names in the poem, as he did hers!
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A Valentine
Edgar Allan Poe

For her this rhyme is penned, whose luminous eyes,
Brightly expressive as the twins of Loeda,
Shall find her own sweet name, that, nestling lies
Upon the page, enwrapped from every reader.
Search narrowly the lines!—they hold a treasure
Divine—a talisman—an amulet
That must be worn at heart. Search well the measure—
The words—the syllables! Do not forget
The trivialest point, or you may lose your labor!
And yet there is in this no Gordian knot

Which one might not undo without a sabre,
If one could merely comprehend the plot.
Enwritten upon the leaf where now are peering
Eyes scintillating soul, there lie perdus
Three eloquent words oft uttered in the hearing
Of poets, by poets—as the name is a poet’s, too.
Its letters, although naturally lying
Like the knight Pinto—Mendez Ferdinando—
Still form a synonym for Truth—Cease trying!
You will not read the riddle, though you do the best you can do.

On Tuesday, 21 February 2023 at 08:34:35 UTC-5, NancyGene wrote:
> How did we miss posting this poem last week? It was written for Frances Sargent Osgood and not for us. He did not put our names in the poem, as he did hers!
> ----------
>
> A Valentine
> Edgar Allan Poe
>
> For her this rhyme is penned, whose luminous eyes,
> Brightly expressive as the twins of Loeda,
> Shall find her own sweet name, that, nestling lies
> Upon the page, enwrapped from every reader.
> Search narrowly the lines!—they hold a treasure
> Divine—a talisman—an amulet
> That must be worn at heart. Search well the measure—
> The words—the syllables! Do not forget
> The trivialest point, or you may lose your labor!
> And yet there is in this no Gordian knot
>
> Which one might not undo without a sabre,
> If one could merely comprehend the plot.
> Enwritten upon the leaf where now are peering
> Eyes scintillating soul, there lie perdus
> Three eloquent words oft uttered in the hearing
> Of poets, by poets—as the name is a poet’s, too.
> Its letters, although naturally lying
> Like the knight Pinto—Mendez Ferdinando—
> Still form a synonym for Truth—Cease trying!
> You will not read the riddle, though you do the best you can do.