A Valentine

[tinustijger]

hey,,

I don't understand the riddle 'a valentine' by Poe, can anyone explain it to me?

[Quoth-the-Raven]

The poem is not really a riddle, because what the poem says has little to do with the solution (except for the fact that the solution is a "sweet name" with "three eloquent words" of a "poet").

To solve the riddle, simply count the letters of each line and mark that letter which corresponds to the line number:



1 For her this rhyme is penned, whose luminous eyes,
2 Brightly expressive as the twins of Leda,
3 Shall find her own sweet name, that nestling lies
4 Upon the page, enwrapped from every reader.
5 Search narrowly the lines!- they hold a treasure
6 Divine- a talisman- an amulet
7 That must be worn at heart. Search well the measure-
8 The words- the syllables! Do not forget
9 The trivialest point, or you may lose your labor
10 And yet there is in this no Gordian knot
11 Which one might not undo without a sabre,
12 If one could merely comprehend the plot.
13 Enwritten upon the leaf where now are peering
14 Eyes scintillating soul, there lie perdus
15 Three eloquent words oft uttered in the hearing
16 Of poets, by poets- as the name is a poet's, too,
17 Its letters, although naturally lying
18 Like the knight Pinto- Mendez Ferdinando-
19 Still form a synonym for Truth- Cease trying!
20 You will not read the riddle, though you do the best you can do.


Now you know the name of Poe's valentine. ;)

Regards,

Raven.