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A Poem by Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) A Study Guide |
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Notes and Annotation by Michael J. Cummings..© 2006 Type of Work and Date of Publication "Eldorado" is a four-stanza poem published for the first time on April 21, 1849, in Flag of Our Union. Life is a journey on which
people search for wealth, fame, joy, courage, approval, adventure, acceptance,
God, a solution to a complex problem, and so on. However, no one ever reaches
his goal. If an The knight represents everyone who travels the journey of life. Eldorado (or El Dorado) is
Spanish for “the gilded one.” Spanish explorers coined the term in the
early 1500's to refer to a legendary South American tribal chief in northern
South America. According to tales the Spaniards heard, this ruler presided
over a kingdom rich in gold and precious gems. It was said that he covered
his body with gold dust during festivals, then later washed it off in a
lake. The “golden city” in which he was believed to reside was called
Omagua (or Omoa). As time passed, the kingdom itself came to be called
Eldorado, and explorers from Spain, Portugal, Germany, and England searched
northern reaches of the continent to find the kingdom and its fabulous
treasures. None of the expeditions succeeded. Subsequently, Eldorado
was used to refer to any place or any enterprise promising to yield wealth
or opportunity.
Atmosphere The atmosphere of "Eldorado" is upbeat and cheerful in Stanza 1 as the knight, singing a song, continues his quest for Eldorado. But the poem turns somber and melancholy in the succeeding stanzas. No longer is there sunshine, only shadow. And, as he grows old, the knight despairs of every finding Eldorado. Then the mysterious pilgrim shadow tells him to ride on to the Valley of the Shadow, which appears to be the biblical "valley of the shadow of death." (See Notes and Comments accompanying the poem, below.) The surreal, dreamlike atmosphere of the final stanza may represent the knight's transition from life to death. Edgar Allan Poe was born
on January 19, 1809, in Boston. After being orphaned at age two, he was
taken into the home of a childless couple–John Allan, a successful businessman
in Richmond, Va., and his wife. Allan was believed to be Poe’s godfather.
At age six, Poe went to England with the Allans and was enrolled in schools
there. After he returned with the Allans to the U.S. in 1820, he studied
at private schools, then attended the University of Virginia and the U.S.
Military Academy, but did not complete studies at either school. After
beginning his literary career as a poet and prose writer, he married his
young cousin, Virginia Clemm. He worked for several magazines and joined
the staff of the New York Mirror newspaper in 1844. All the while,
he was battling a drinking problem. After the Mirror published his
poem “The Raven” in January 1845, Poe achieved national and international
fame. Besides pioneering the development of the short story, Poe invented
the format for the detective story as we know it today. He also was an
outstanding literary critic. Despite the acclaim he received, he was never
really happy because of his drinking and because of the deaths of several
people close to him, including his wife in 1847. He frequently had trouble
paying his debts. It is believed that heavy drinking was a contributing
cause of his death in Baltimore on October 7, 1849.
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