Serenade - A Poem By Edgar Allan Poe

In his poem, “Serenade,” Poe uses a combination of archaic diction, allusions to Greek mythology, consistent meter, and rhyme to create a magical nighttime setting and antiquated language is present in many of Poe’s poems.

Transcript

Serenade,

A poem by Edgar Allan Poe So sweet the hour,

So calm the time,

I feel it more than half a crime,

When nature sleeps and stars are mute,

To mar the silence,

Even with lute.

At rest on ocean's brilliant dyes,

An image of Elysium lies.

Seven Pleiades entranced in heaven,

Form in the deep another seven,

And Demian nodding from above,

Sees in the sea a second love.

In the valleys dim and brown,

And on the spectral mountain's crown,

The wearied light is dying down,

And earth and stars and sea and sky Are redolent of sleep,

As I am redolent Of thee and thine enthralling love,

My Adeline.

But list,

O list,

So soft and low,

Thy lover's voice to-night shall flow,

That scarce awake thy soul shall deem,

My words the music of a dream.

Thus while no single sound,

Too rude,

Upon thy slumber shall intrude,

Our thoughts,

Our souls,

O God above,

In every deed shall mingle love.