Lit2Go

The Works of Edgar Allan Poe

by Edgar Allan Poe

An Enigma

Additional Information
  • Year Published: 1903
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States of America
  • Source: Poe, E.A. (1903). The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition, Volume 5. New York: P. F. Collier and Son.
  • Readability:
    • Flesch–Kincaid Level: 3.4
  • Word Count: 184
  • Genre: Poetry
  • Keywords: riddle
  • ✎ Cite This
  • Share |

Downloads


"Seldom we find," says Solomon Don Dunce,
         "Half an idea in the profoundest sonnet.
     Through all the flimsy things we see at once
         As easily as through a Naples bonnet—
         Trash of all trash!—how can a lady don it?
     Yet heavier far than your Petrarchan stuff-
     Owl-downy nonsense that the faintest puff
         Twirls into trunk-paper the while you con it."
     And, veritably, Sol is right enough.
     The general tuckermanities are arrant
     Bubbles—ephemeral and so transparent—
         But this is, now,—you may depend upon it—
     Stable, opaque, immortal—all by dint
     Of the dear names that lie concealed within 't.