"Eldorado" is a ballad poem by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in the April 21, 1849 issue of The Flag of Our Union.
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Summary
The poem describes the journey of a "gallant knight" in search of the legendary El Dorado. The knight spends much of his life on this quest. In his old age, he finally meets a "pilgrim shadow" who points the way through "the Valley of Shadow."
Analysis
The poem is made up of four six-line stanzas. Poe uses the term shadow in the middle of each stanza. The meaning of the word, however, changes with each use. First, it is a literal shadow, where the sun is blocked out. In the second, it implies gloom or despair. The third use is a ghost. The final use, "the Valley of Shadow," can be replaced with "Valley of Death," possibly suggesting that Eldorado (or riches in general) does not exist in the living world. The time of the poem's publication, 1849, was during the California gold rush and may have been Poe's reaction to that event.
Adaptation
"Eldorado," along with "Hymn" and "Evening Star," was adapted by choral composer Jonathan Adams as Three Songs from Edgar Allan Poe for SATB chorus and piano in 1993.
References
- Silverman, Kenneth (1991). Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance, Paperback ed., New York: Harper Perennial. ISBN 0060923318.
- Sova, Dawn B. (2001). Edgar Allan Poe, A to Z, Paperback ed., New York: Checkmark Books. ISBN 081604161X.
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Other works
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