7. hyacinth hair: a favorite term with Poe. In "The Assignation" he says of the Marchesa Aphrodite, "Her hair ... clustered round and round her classical head, in curls like those of the young hyacinth." The hair of Ligeia, in the story of that title, he calls "the raven-black, the glossy, the luxuriant and naturally-curling tresses, setting forth the full force of the Homeric epithet, 'hyacinthine.'" 8. Naiad airs: suggestive of exquisite grace. The Naiads, in classical mythology, are water nymphs,--lovely maidens presiding over brooks and fountains. 9, 10. Two of Poe's best and most frequently quoted lines. Explain the fitness of the epithets. Originally the lines read: To the beauty of fair Greece And the grandeur of old Rome. Is the change an improvement? Explain. 14. Psyche: the Greek word for "soul," and also the name of a beautiful maiden whom Cupid himself loved and wedded. Read the story in Gayley's "Classic Myths." ISRAFEL (Page 7) Published in editions of 1831 and 1845, and several times in magazines. See comment in the Introduction, page xxiii. Poe derived the quotation through Moore's "Lalla Rookh," altered it slightly, and interpolated the clause, "whose heart-strings are a lute"; it is from Sale's "Preliminary Discourse" to the Koran. 12. levin, or leven: an archaic word for "lightning." 13. Pleiads, or Pleiades: a group of stars in the constellation Taurus; only six stars of the group are readily visible, but legend tells of a seventh, lost. Read the account of the ancient myth in Gayley's "Classic Myths." 23. skies: the object of "trod." 26. Houri: derived from an Arabian word meaning "to have brilliant black eyes." It is the name in Mohammedan tradition for beautiful nymphs of Paradise, who are to be companions of the pious. THE CITY IN THE SEA (Page 9) Published in 1831 as "The Doomed City," in 1836 as "The City of Sin," and several times in 1845 under the above title. Point out examples of alliteration. 18. Babylon-like walls. The walls of the ancient city of Babylon, on the Euphrates, were famous for massiveness and extent. THE SLEEPER (Page 11) Published as "Irene" in 1831 and 1836, and as "The Sleeper" in 1843 and 1845. The theme is Poe's favorite, the death of a beautiful young woman, and the poem is remarkable, even among Poe's, for its melody. LENORE (Page 13) Published as "A Pæan" in 1831 and 1836, and as "Lenore" in 1843 and 1845. It was much altered in its numerous revisions. 1. broken is the golden bowl. See Ecclesiastes xii. 6. 2. Stygian river. The Styx was a river of Hades, across which the souls of the dead had to be ferried. 3. Guy De Vere: the mourning lover. It is he who speaks in the second and fourth stanzas. 13. Peccavimus: literally, "we have sinned." This stanza is the reply of the false friends. THE VALLEY OF UNREST (Page 14) Published in 1831 as "The Valley Nis," with an obscure allusion to a "Syriac Tale":