“Eldorado” by Edgar Allan Poe

The poem "Eldorado" was first published in 1849 in the Boston-based periodical, The Flag of Our Union, a publication which also printed works from Louisa May Alcott. Incidentally, this poem was published just a little over five months before Edgar Allan Poe would meet his untimely–and still unexplained–death. Poe is, of course, known for his melancholy and dark writings and although there are some gray undertones in "Eldorado", they are far less overt than those in many of his other pieces. The text of the poem has been set to music in its entirety as well as adapted into song by many musical acts over the years.

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Program Credits

Announcer: Thomas Lamar
Narrator: J.D. Sutter
Composer: Conner Savoca
Sound Design & Mixing: Christopher Green with assistance from Roy Allison
Photography: Patrick Neufelder
Producer/Director: J.D. Sutter

Entry on Wikipedia for "Eldorado"
Entry on Wikipedia for Edgar Allan Poe
Poe's Bio on the Poetry Foundation
Analysis of "Eldorado" from gradesaver.com
Analysis of "Eldorado" from shadowofiris.com

1849 Daguerreotype of Edgar Allan Poe
Source: Wikimedia

“Eldorado” by Edgar Allan Poe

       Gaily bedight,

       A gallant knight,

In sunshine and in shadow,  

       Had journeyed long,  

       Singing a song,

In search of Eldorado.

       But he grew old—

       This knight so bold—  

And o’er his heart a shadow—  

       Fell as he found

       No spot of ground

That looked like Eldorado.

       And, as his strength  

       Failed him at length,

He met a pilgrim shadow—  

       “Shadow,” said he,  

       “Where can it be—

This land of Eldorado?”

       “Over the Mountains

       Of the Moon,

Down the Valley of the Shadow,  

       Ride, boldly ride,”

       The shade replied,—

“If you seek for Eldorado!”

By William Heath Robinson - books, Public Domain, Link