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An Acrostic (Poe)

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For works with similar titles, see Acrostic.
An Acrostic (1829)
by Edgar Allan Poe

Transcription of an undated manuscript, circa 1829. First published in The Complete Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, ed. J. H. Whitty, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co (p. 141, and p. 285) as "From an Album". "L.E.L." probably refers to an Letitia Elizabeth Landon

67072An Acrostic1829Edgar Allan Poe

Elizabeth it is in vain you say
"Love not"—thou sayest it in so sweet a way:
In vain those words from thee or L. E. L.
Zantippe's talents had enforced so well:
Ah! if that language from thy heart arise,
Breathe it less gently forth—and veil thine eyes.
Endymion, recollect, when Luna tried
To cure his love—was cured of all beside—
His folly—pride—and passion—for he died.