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Enemies: Allan Griswold

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A Valentine
by Edgar Allan Poe

(This poem was addressed to Frances Osgood and read at the home of Miss Anne Lynch in New York, February 14, 1846.)

For her these lines are penned, whose luminous eyes,
Brightly expressive as the twins of Loeda,
Shall find her own sweet name that, nestling, lies
Upon this page, enwrapped from every reader.
Search narrowly this rhyme, which holds a treasure
Divine -- a talisman -- an amulet
That must be worn at heart. Search well the measure;
The words -- the letters themselves. 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 understand the plot.
Enwritten upon this page whereon are peering
Such eager eyes, there lies, I say, perdu,
A well-known name, 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.

The riddle:
There are twenty lines to the poem,
and twenty letters in the name, "Frances Sargent Osgood" --
now begin with the first line of the poem --
it starts with the first letter of "Frances" --
in the second line, the second letter is "r" --
in the third line, the third letter is "a" -- and so on.

For her these lines are penned, whose luminous eyes,
Brightly expressive as the twins of Loeda,
Shall find her own sweet name that, nestling, lies
Upon this page, enwrapped from every reader.
Search narrowly this rhyme, which holds a treasure
Divine -- a talisman -- an amulet
That must be worn at heart. Search well the measure;
The words -- the letters themselves. 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 understand the plot.
Enwritten upon this page whereon are peering
Such eager eyes, there lies, I say, perdu,
A well-known name, 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.

Enemies: Allan Griswold

POE: Influences Friends Enemies Women