" Eldorado " is a poem written by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in April 1849.
Video Eldorado (poem)
Summary
The poem describes the journey of a "handsome knight" in search of the legendary El Dorado. The knight spent most of his life in this quest. In his old age, he finally meets the "shadow of the hajj" which shows the way through the "Valley of Shadows". It was first published in the April 21, 1849 edition, based in Boston Flag of Our Unity .
Maps Eldorado (poem)
Analysis
The poem is a narrative consisting of four lines of six lines, known as sestet. Poe uses the term shadow in the middle of each verse. The meaning of the word, however, changes with every use. First, it is a literal shadow, where the sun is blocked. Second, it means gloom or despair. The third shows ghosts. The last use, "The Valley of Shadows", a reference to "The Valley of the Shadow of Death", may indicate that the Eldorado (or wealth in general) does not exist in a living world, or may be extremely difficult to find in the physical world. Eldorado can also be construed not as an earthly metal, yellowish, but as a treasure that actually has the possibility of existence in a spirit dwelling. These "spiritual" treasures are the mind: knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.
The time of the publication of the poem, 1849, was during the California Gold Rush and the poem, in part, Poe's reaction to the event.
"Eldorado" is one of Poe's last poems. As Poe's expert Scott Peeples writes, the poem "fits well for discussions about Poe's career." Like the subject of poetry, Poe is looking for success or happiness and, despite spending his life searching for him, he eventually loses his strength and faces death.
Adaptation
The "Eldorado" is set for music by some 19th-century composers, including American Charles Sanford Skilton, Edgar Stillman Kelley, and English composer Richard Walthew, and for London's choir by Joseph Harold Hinton. In 1993 Eldorado , along with Hymn and Evening Star , was adapted by Jonathan Adams (composer) as Three Songs from Edgar Allan Poe for SATB choir and piano. The famous composer John Adams also composed the Eldorado symphony.
In popular music, the poem was used in 1996 for Donovan's song lyrics on his album Sutras . In 2000 "Eldorado" was adapted as a song by Darkwave band Sopor Aeternus on the album The Song of Inverted Womb.
In 2017, Mad Duck recorded the "Eldorado" version of Braggart's album and dark poetry.
In John Wayne's 1966 El Dorado, James Caan reads part of the poem at different times. Caan's Mississippi characters read out all but the second stanza of the poem during the movie. The character learned poetry from a mentor, Johnny Diamond, whose death he returned. In the 1990 movie Young Guns 2 , Kiefer Sutherland's character, Josiah "Doc" Scurlock was heard reading the last stanza for prostitutes and claiming to have written the poem himself. In 2012 the poem was read and is a central part of the horror-comedy movie plot of Eldorado .
References
- Silverman, Kenneth (1991). Edgar A. Poe: Memories of Memory and Never End (Paperback ed.). New York: Harper Perennial. ISBNÃ, 0-06-092331-8
- Sova, Dawn B. (2001). Edgar Allan Poe, A to Z (Paperback ed.). New York: Books A Check Sign. ISBNÃ, 081604161X
External links
- Eldorado public domain audiobook on LibriVox
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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