Eldorado (poem)
Eldorado is a ballad - poem by Edgar Allan Poe . It was first on 21 April 1849 in the output of Boston Flag of Our Union - magazine published - at a time when Poe writing neglected and strengthened the teaching devoted.
Summary and analysis
The poem describes the journey of a knightly nobleman in search of the legendary Eldorado . He spends most of his life doing this. With old age he finally meets a "walking shadow" who shows him the way through the "valley of shadows".
The ballad consists of four stanzas of six verses each . Poe uses the term shadow in the middle of each stanza, each with a different meaning:
- a normal shadow , an area obscured from incident light,
- a metaphor that expresses sadness ,
- a mind and
- the realm of the dead , the valley of shadows .
The reason for the creation of the poem was probably the California gold rush that was prevailing at the time of publication.
Trivia
In 1993, Jonathan Adams composed the piece Three songs from Edgar Allan Poe for SATB choir and piano based on Eldorado and two other poems by Poe ( Hymn and Evening Star ) . It was also the basis for a song text on Donovan's music album Sutras from 1996. The Frankfurt music project Sopor Aeternus closes its 2004 album Songs from the Inverted Womb with Poe's text. The poem is also sung by Goblin Market and Craig Owens.
In the Western Eldorado of 1966 with John Wayne and Robert Mitchum , the poem is quoted several times, but the German dubbed translation is only loosely based on the original.
text
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!"
translation
With a good plan
a nobleman
in the sun and in the shade
has long been wrong,
a song has been lost
in search of El Dorado.
But when
he grew old, the man was so radiant
and a shadow
fell on his heart , when he found
no patch of land that
matched El Dorado.
As
if he had fallen asleep without strength, he
met a walking shadow:
“Shadows!” He said,
“Where can it be -
This land of El Dorado?”
“Behind the mountains of the moon
deep in the valley of shadows.
Riding 'bold, riding' ",
he spoke cleverly,
" if you're looking for El Dorado! "
Web links
- Interpretations at eliteskills.com
- Study Guide by Michael J. Cummings (2006)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Cambridge Companion ; PDF file; 211 kB to EAPoe ( 2008 ) ISBN 0-521-79326-2
- ↑ Campbell, Killis. "The Origins of Poe," The Mind of Poe and Other Studies. New York: Russell & Russell, Inc., 1962: 159.
- ↑ Entry at boosey.com