Alas! for that accursed time
They bore thee o'er the billow,
From Love to titled age and crime
And an unholy pillow—
From me, and from our misty clime
Where weeps the silver willow.
TO F—— (Page 18)
Appeared in 1835 under the title "To Mary," and in 1842 and 1843, "To One Departed." It is not known to whom these forms were addressed. In 1845 it again appeared with the above title, which is believed to refer to Mrs. Frances Sargent Osgood, a poet of the time, whom Poe greatly admired.
TO F——S S. O——D (Page 18)
First appeared in the Southern Literary Messenger(1835) as "Lines Written in an Album," addressed to Eliza White, a young daughter of the editor of the Messenger; in 1839 the same lines were addressed "To ——," whose name is unknown; and in 1845 they were addressed under the above title to Mrs. Osgood (see note on the preceding poem).
TO ZANTE (Page 18)
Published in 1837, 1843, and 1845. In form this is a regular Shakespearean sonnet. Zante is one of the principal Ionian islands, in ancient times called Zacynthus. Again the poet writes of a fair isle in the sea; point out other instances. Note the fondness for "no more," and find examples in other poems. As usual with Poe, the thread of thought is slight and indefinite; apparently the beautiful island has become "accursed ground" because of the death there of the "maiden that is no more."
1. fairest of all flowers. There is a zantewood, or satinwood, but it does not take its name from this island. Poe associated the name of the island with the hyacinth, but there is no etymological connection. He probably derived his fancy from a passage in Chateaubriand's "Itinéraire de Paris à Jérusalem," page 53.
13. hyacinthine isle: a reference to the flowers of the island (see preceding note).
14. "Isola d'oro! Fior di Levante!" "Golden Isle! Flower of the Levant!" These are Italian terms for Zante; they occur in the passage in Chateaubriand referred to in the note on line 1.