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But evil things, in robes of sorrow, Assailed the monarch's high estate; (Ah, let us mourn, for never morrow Shall dawn upon him desolate!) And round about his home the glory That blushed and bloomed, Is but a dim-remembered story Of the old time entombed.
Edgar Allan Poe
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote reflects on the sorrow and inevitable decline of greatness over time.

In this quote, Edgar Allan Poe meditates on the concept of loss and the passage of time, illustrating how even the mightiest of figures can fall into despair and be surrounded by memories of their former glory. It conveys a sense of mourning for what once was, emphasizing that the beauty of past achievements often fades, leaving only remnants in the shadows of memory.

Themes

SorrowLossGloryMemoryTimeDecline

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used during a eulogy to reflect on the passing of a beloved figure.

More from Edgar Allan Poe

Most writers - poets in especial - prefer having it understood that they compose by a species of fine frenzy - an ecstatic intuition - and would positively shudder at letting the public take a peep behind the scenes.
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...the agony of my soul found vent in one loud, long and final scream of despair.
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Where the good and the bad and the worst and the best have gone to their eternal rest.
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I could have clasped the red walls to my bosom as a garment of eternal peace. "Death," I said, "any death but that of the pit!" Fool! might I have not known that into the pit it was the object of the burning iron to urge me?
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In our endeavors to recall to memory something long forgotten, we often find ourselves upon the very verge of remembrance, without being able, in the end, to remember.
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Thank Heaven! The crisis /The danger is past, and the lingering illness, is over at last /, and the fever called ''Living'' is conquered at last.
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