A Valentine Analysis

For her this rhyme is penned, whose luminous eyes,

Brightly expressive as the twins of Leda,

Shall find her own sweet name, that nestling lies

Upon the page, enwrapped from every reader.

Search narrowly the lines!- they hold a treasure

Divine- a talisman- an amulet

That must be worn at heart. Search well the measure-

The words- the syllables! Do not forget

The trivialest point, or you may lose your labor

And yet there is in this no Gordian knot

Which one might not undo without a sabre,

If one could merely comprehend the plot.

Enwritten upon the leaf where now are peering

Eyes scintillating soul, there lie perdus

Three eloquent words oft uttered in the hearing

Of poets, by poets- as the name is a poet's, too,

Its letters, although naturally lying

Like the knight Pinto- Mendez Ferdinando-

Still form a synonym for Truth- Cease trying!

You will not read the riddle, though you do the best you can do.

.: :.

no one is asking for the "REAL ANSWER." people read this site to find out what the peom means. Obviously like almost every comment has said the poem does have the name Frances Sargent Osgood in it. They had a secret love for each other, that they only expressed with each other in their poems. Starting at the beginning, "For her, this rhyme is penned, whose luminous eyes, Brightly expressive as the twins of Leda,
"Shall find her own sweet name, that nestling lies
Upon the page, enwrapped from every reader" tells that the poem is dedicated to her. "Shall find her own sweet name, that nestling lies
Upon the page," self explanitory...
"Search narrowly the lines!- they hold a treasure
Divine- a talisman- an amulet" tells you to search for her name in the poem; the treasure being her name.
"That must be worn at heart. Search well the measure-
The words- the syllables! Do not forget
The trivialest point, or you may lose your labor" "that must be worn at heart", the talisman/amulet in other words her name, means that he was saying that you should care for her...like she was really special. the lines after that must be worn at heart is saying that he really wants you to find her name in the peom! and dont forget the name because its sooo special!
"And yet there is in this no Gordian knot
Which one might not undo without a sabre,
If one could merely comprehend the plot."
Gordian Knot is often used as a metaphor for an intractable problem, solved by a blod stroke; so it means And yet there is no hard problem...meaning finding her name isnt rocket science and "which one might not undo without a sabre, means that you might not figure it out with out using a knife to cut out letters to figure it out...
"Enwritten upon the leaf where now are peering
Eyes scintillating soul, there lie perdus"
means written on the paper where you are now looking at; with lively eyes, you lie lost..as if you cant find it.
"Three eloquent words oft uttered in the hearing
Of poets, by poets- as the name is a poet's, too,"
The "three eloquent words" is her full name and its saying that she is as well, a poet too.
"Its letters, although naturally lying
Like the knight Pinto- Mendez Ferdinando-
Still form a synonym for Truth- Cease trying!"
means the letters of her name in the poem are standing out like how the knight Pinto- Mendez Ferdinado's lies were so obvious. "Still form a synonym for Truth- Cease trying!" means he's telling you to keep looking for the name!
"You will not read the riddle, though you do the best you can do"
meaning you might not get the riddle, but you did the best to try to figure it out.
NOW THAT, IS HOW YOU ANALYSIS THE POEM.

| Posted on 2009-03-15 | by a guest

.: :.

Just because young people got it so quickly, doesn't mean this is a simple riddle to solve. Sometimes when you are younger, it is easier to look at things simply.
I didn't get it until I read these postings. Even though I suspected there was a simple answer, I overlooked the obvious.

| Posted on 2009-03-04 | by a guest

.: :.

This is so easy, I (a friggin' 12 year-old) got it at first glance. It's Frances Sargent Osgood. Heres a hint, 1st and 1st, 2nd and 2nd, 3rd and 3rd, and so on.

| Posted on 2008-11-14 | by a guest

.: :.

There is an answer to this Valentine given to Frances Sargent Osgood. Poe wrote this letter to her, for he was in love. She was a poet, as said in the poem, and throughout the peom it says that her name lies within the page. The answer is the first letter of first line, second of second line, third to third line, and so forth. It should say Frances Sargent Osgood.
kid

| Posted on 2008-11-03 | by a guest

.: :.

There is in fact a name in the poem..it is Frances Sargent Osgood and she was herself a writer. With some research I found that they had a relationship thorugh writing to each other and she was in fact married to another man. So perhaps he did want to steal her away from him. The line "although naturally lying" is a play on words but it is a play on words because of the man named afterwards Fernidando Mendez...he was a Portugese tarveller and when he made records of his travels he often overexagerated or lied...hence " naturally lying like the knight Pinto-Mendez Ferninando"

| Posted on 2007-09-23 | by a guest

.: :.

To me it seems that Poe is trying to say that love is all games. He has the line of -It;s letters Although naturally lying- this to me seems as though he is trying to say that when words are written they may mean nothing, but wehn they are spoken they come to life.

| Posted on 2007-05-04 | by a guest

.: THE REAL ANSWER :.

The answer to the riddle is found by taking the first letter of the fist line F and the second of the second r. When you do this throughout the whole poem, you get the name FRANCES SARGENT OSGOOD. Who, as even I know, ( a fourteen year-old girl) is another great poet. He had a crush on her and this poem was his valentine to her! DUH!


| Posted on 2005-04-04 | by Approved Guest

.: :.

Wow, this is a toughie, but I'll give it a shot. Only because it's Valentine's Day (puke) He is in love with a woman and terrified to tell her because he's been lied to before.He's telling her if she would be with him all eyes(and treasure) would be hers. Perhaps he's trying to win her from another man. As far as the riddle, at first glance I thought the answer to it was his woman's name, but now I think there is no answer. I can only guess it's a love tactic used to keep this woman forever guessing, perhaps the only way the author feels will keep her around.

| Posted on 2005-02-14 | by tunelover