Gaily bedight,
A gallant knight,
In sunshine and in shadow,
Had journeyed long,
Singing a song,
In search of Eldorado.
But he grew old–
This knight so bold–
And o’er his heart a shadow
Fell as he found
No spot of ground
That looked like Eldorado.
And, as his strength
Failed him at length,
He met a pilgrim shadow-
“Shadow,” said he,
“Where can it be–
This land of Eldorado?”
“Over the Mountains
Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,”
The shade replied–
“If you seek for Eldorado!”
i think this is a poem that some what encourages his readers which is the complete antithesis of him all toghether b/c we normally see dark things in his writings. But all in all, it could have been encouragement to himself and all the things he was going through. he wrote this poem after Virginia died and he probably realized that he needed encouragement to help him get through. Which we see didn’t work so well in his later years.
I think the part of the poem where the shadow tells tge knight to look over th mountains over the moon is not very clear…
What does it mean?
i love this poem. A knight searching for the city of gold that doesn’t exist. I love the was EAP hides the meaning of this poem. You really have to know your history for this poem to find the true meaning. If you know anything about Sir Walter Raleigh thats a good start…This is one of the best poems i have ever saw because i can actually understand it. I love poety.
Diondre
instead of dismal….as sum have said…eldorado, to me ..is encouraging….for the knight…is told quite clearly..ride boldly…if u seek eldorado…good advice…u may never attain it..but life is in ‘the ride’…and one must be bold…
btw, i have the poem on my site…and sum other scite…..check it out…hope u get a laugh…
http://wil3.typepad.com
later aces….
I love this poem. Yes, it indeed has a dismal message, yet the sing songy rhythm seems to be contradictory to its depressing message. I believe that the the part where it says:
“In sunshine and in shadow,”
the sunshine represents faith and the shadow represents doubt.
in my regard the poem ‘Eldorado’ by Edgar allan poe is simply the ‘best’. Its central idea is that we can get eldorado ‘the land of gold’ only in heaven i.e. life after death.in my point of view poe wrote this story to reflect the mere fact that one gets inner peace and wealth through his deeds at earth which later are the conditions in which he is judged in heaven.
The origin of El Dorado comes from 16th century British men, such as Sir Walter Raleigh who searched for a land of gold, called El Dorado in Guiana and through out South America but never found it, because it didn’t exist
Does anybody know where “eldorado” by E. A. Poe was published? And perhaps also in europe?! Would be very helpful.
thx,
bye
TT
WOW. JUST. WOW
Poe is a magnificant writer!I absolutly adore all his pomes and short stories.
dude i done saw the road to el dorado. it dont give this here poem good justice. i like that there movie lots and lots. that guy that done speaked about them queers was right. they is queer. i dont care much for this poem but i liked it lots and lots. thank ya’ll and goodnight from the big FREDNECK MARYLAND
Poe as brilliant as he was, made quite a few interesting references in this poem. The reference to El Dorado itself was based on the Spanish explorers looking for the famous “City of Gold”. Which ofcourse was never found. His reference to a young noble knight searching for this famed city, shows the impetuous nature of youth. And he shows how the futile search ends in death when the shadow apears. Is he saying that for those of us who have an unreachable dream, that the sweet serenity of death is as good as reaching our goal? Perhaps. He at this point in his life was an avid absybth user and found great solice in escaping reality. Sad as it is, Poe felt a great loss in his life and spent a great deal of time reflecting on it. He wanted the woman of his dreams to come back, but alas that did not happen. Maybe the message here is simply that if you have an unreachable goal the only bit of peace you’ll find is when you are dead…
I’m one of those that grew up loving the recitation by James Caan in the John Wayne movie by this same name. I never knew where these lines actually came from until now. I decided to do a web search after hearing Kiefer Sutherland quote some of the lines in Young Guns II. I am glad that I did so, I never had a clue that this was from Poe.
what does the shadow mean? it appears in every stanza and has different meanings. what do they mean respectively? i believe that eldorado is actually a place that you can never get there. it’s not realistic just like the dreams during the time of gold rush.
eldorado is not about heaven, its about the light at the end of the tunnel dont give up what seems so far is yet so near. ilearned this poem in 6th grade and it has me where iam 2 day-striving on
For anyone concerned, Poe was a Manic-Depressive,(moods swinging from very good to very bad). I think that he was trying to express the struggle in his own life,seeking peace of mind and sprit… the truth be known he may have never found it.One thing we must all realize is that death comes to us all,the smart thing to do is have yourself prepared to meet God on his terms,and conditions,Christ is the only way!
I agree that El Dorado is the dream within our heart and the journey to reach it although very difficult at times can be attained if we don’t give up. It reminds me of the Proverb: “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing; it is the glory of kings to seek it out.”
The poem is quoted throughout the John Wayne movie entitled “El Dorado”. It is my favorite John Wayne movie ever!
Demon Killer wrote that El Dorado was actually heaven. I don’t think so. There is some question about Poe’s religious beliefs. Some hold that he was an atheist; others that he never lost his religions background. In an case, I don’t think this poem has anything to do with religion.
This poem gives me deep impression that the author chase Eldorado throughout all his life.Im my opinion the author want to tell us don’t give up your dream.
This poem talks about how Poe is seeking a great thing, but he can’t find it. Then when he dies he asked the shade were’s Eldorado. The shade tells him were it is, but Eldorado is actually heaven.