Rate-a-Poem: The Happiest Day

William Haskins · Feb 25, 2006

by Edgar Allen Poe
(1809 - 1849)

The Happiest Day

The happiest day--the happiest hour
My seared and blighted heart hath known,
The highest hope of pride and power,
I feel hath flown.

Of power! said I? Yes! such I ween
But they have vanished long, alas!
The visions of my youth have been--
But let them pass.

And pride, what have I now with thee?
Another brow may ev'n inherit
The venom thou hast poured on me--
Be still my spirit!

The happiest day--the happiest hour
Mine eyes shall see--have ever seen,
The brightest glance of pride and power
I feel have been:

But were that hope of pride and power
Now offered with the pain
Ev'n then I felt--that brightest hour
I would not live again:

For on its wings was dark alloy
And as it fluttered--fell
An essence--powerful to destroy
A soul that knew it well.

StoryG27 · Feb 25, 2006

Not one beat, not one word is wasted. Each word carries it's own power, whether it is emotional, visual, or both, and the breaks set the perfect rhythm to this somber poem. IMO, it's a masterpiece (but I am biased and think pretty much everything by Edgar Allen Poe is a masterpiece).

mommie4a · Feb 25, 2006

Icarus?

ddgryphon · Feb 25, 2006

storygirl said:
Not one beat, not one word is wasted. Each word carries it's own power, whether it is emotional, visual, or both, and the breaks set the perfect rhythm to this somber poem. IMO, it's a masterpiece (but I am biased and think pretty much everything by Edgar Allen Poe is a masterpiece).

Ditto, ditto, and ditto.

Paint · Feb 26, 2006

Perfection--a masterpiece!

Perks · Feb 26, 2006

I know so little about poetry, but I always respond to Poe. Some could argue that this should leave you feeling heavy, but it always feels like Poe carries the load for me and I end it feeling lighter.

William Haskins · Feb 26, 2006

poe's continuing popularity is an interesting phenomenon to me.

thanks for all the comments.

Cassie88 · Feb 26, 2006

I couldn't grasp this poem at first reading a few days ago. Maybe it was late, maybe I was tired. But today, right now, I understand and that understanding is ... umm.... heavy to hold. My father once said to me, "I used to think I was a big man. I'm not."

That's what this poem brought to my mind.

poetinahat · Feb 26, 2006

I've had to come back to this one as well. The gloomy vision of one whose best days are past is clear enough. It's the feeling of the last two stanzas on which I've ruminated.

What I see now is that, while the happiest day has passed, it was not what it had seemed. The regret isn't nostalgic -- it's the thought of having misplaced one's priorities in earlier days.

This realisation doesn't make the present any happier or easier to bear. But it does bring an acknowledgment that experience has brought wisdom.

I'm going to appreciate this piece more and more with time. Surely, in part but not entirely, because I'm getting older.

Rate-a-Poem: The Happiest Day

Rate it below, or expand if no choice applies to you:

5 Stars: a masterpiece

4 Stars: a strong poem, but some elements didn't appeal to me

3 Stars: a good poem, but it didn't move me to any great extent

2 Stars: a flawed or uninspiring piece of work

1 Star: does absolutely nothing for me

William Haskins

poet

StoryG27

Miss Behave

mommie4a

Mother of All Addictions

ddgryphon

King of Sloth Town

Paint

Warrior of Truth

Perks

delicate #!&@*#! flower

William Haskins

poet

Cassie88

Make mine a double entendre

poetinahat

say it loud