A Valentine

Edgar Allan Poe – “A Valentine”

Published 1850

*Any citation in (parentheses) indicates the specific line(s) being discussed/quoted

Known for telling cynical tales of murder and having general air of eeriness Edgar Allan Poe steps into a realm completely different than most his famous poems would entail with “A Valentine.” Though love is not a new topic of nature to Poe, “A Valentine” stands out to me amongst his works by actually addressing that he is writing not only about a love interest but to her in such an endearing title as
“Valentine”. This seems cutesy, an adjective that would not typically come to mind when talking of Poe. This gives me a warming feeling instead of the initial creeped out aura I exude after I finish reading.

Now, whether this is a work of my new found confident eye for analyzing poetry, attributed to my literary classes, or not, I won’t divulge, but while reading “A Valentine” I see multiple thematic concerns simultaneously working together to make this work particularly interesting to me. The poem essentially, and eloquently of course, says that it is “penned” (1) for one person who will find her name within the work. I researched what type of poem “A Valentine” is and came across a few facts: The poem is an acrostic and it is not a normal one at that. A typical acrostic spells a word (or words) using the first letter of the first word of each line. Here, “A Valentine” complicates things with using the first letter in the first place on the first line, the second letter in the second place on the second line and so on. With some diligence, you can see the poem spells out “FRANCES SARGENT OSGOOD”, presumably his valentine.

The poem is a “treasure” (5) of the heart, i.e. contributing to the cutesy emotion I mentioned feeling earlier, and continues to entice the reader to figure out Poe’s “riddle” (20). Going through I can see where Poe could also be talking not only about his valentine, but also about the fact that he is writing about writing about his valentine. (What a mouthful!)  

For example:

About his valentine: 

“For her this rhyme is penned, whose luminous eyes,
    Brightly expressive as the twins of Lœda” (1 -2)

About, About, About:

“Shall find her own sweet name, that, nestling lies
    Upon the page, enwrapped from every reader.” (3 – 4)

“Enwritten upon the leaf where now are peering” (13)

In lines 3, 4, and 13 Poe is making clearer that not only is the identity of his valentine hidden amongst the lines but also bringing attention to the fact that the reader is reading about reading…

Take what you will from my ramblings but Edgar Allan Poe’s “A Valentine” stands out to me by being mysteriously cutesy and for that I will always love it.