This brief
poem is instinct with a gratitude and reverence easy to understand,
and is, for Poe, unusually spontaneous.
ULALUME (Page 30)
Published in December, 1847, and in January, 1848. The earlier form
contained an additional stanza, afterward wisely omitted. Read the
comment on the poem in the Introduction, pages xxiv-xxv.
5. Immemorial: properly means extending indefinitely into the
past. Poe may mean that the year has seemed endless to him, but
apparently he uses the word in the sense of memorable.
6, 7. Auber rhymes with October, Weir with year; the
names were coined by Poe for rhyme and tone color. Note the
resemblance of "Weir" to "weird."
8. tarn: a small mountain lake. It is used provincially in
England to mean a boggy or marshy tract. Poe used the word to signify
a dark, stagnant pool. Cf. "The Fall of the House of Usher," page 49.
11. cypress. What is its significance?
12. Psyche: soul. Cf. note on line 14 of "To Helen," page 183.
14. scoriac: a very rare word, from _scoria_ (lava).
16. Yaanek: another specially coined word.
35. crescent: suggesting hope.
37, 39. Astarte: a Phoenician goddess, as the deity of love
corresponding to Venus (Aphrodite), and as moon goddess to Dian, or
Diana (Artemis). But Diana was chaste and cold to the advances of
lovers, which explains "she (Astarte) is warmer than Dian.
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