An Enigma - Edgar Allan Poe

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Union Magazine of Literature and Art, March 1848
Sonnet
by Edgar Allan Poe

"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 Petrarchanities 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.

-The End-

[The hidden name in this poem is that of Sarah Anna Lewis. It is spelled with one letter on each line, the first letter of the first line "S", the second letter of the second line "a", the third letter of the third line "r", etc.]

[The terms "Petrarchanies" and "Petrarchan" refer to Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374), an Italian poet famous for his sonnets.]

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The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe, 1850
An Enigma
by Edgar Allan Poe

"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 he concealed within 't.

-The End-

[Though published two years after it appeared in the Union Magazine of Literature and Art (March, 1848), this version likely is taken from the original manuscript. Griswold knew Mrs. Lewis quite well and as such almost certainly had access it.]

[The hidden name in this poem is that of Sarah Anna Lewis. It is spelled with one letter on each line, the first letter of the first line "S", the second letter of the second line "a", the third letter of the third line "r", etc.]

[The term "tuckermanities" refers to Henry Theodore Tuckerman (1813-1871), who wrote light sonnets for the Democratic Review in 1845.]
(notes from: http://www.eapoe.org/)