"Sonnet to Science" (originally "Sonnet — To Science") is an 1829 poem by
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...
, published in ''Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems''.
Summary
Poe asks why science preys on the poet. Science is peering, destructive and interested only in cold realities. It will not allow the poet to soar in fantasy or even to sit peacefully dreaming beneath a tree.
Publication history
In mid-November 1829, Poe agreed with the Baltimore firm Hatch and Dunning to publish his second volume of poetry, entitled ''Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems''. This volume was the first instance in which Poe published his verse under his own name as opposed to his first publication, ''
Tamerlane and Other Poems
''Tamerlane and Other Poems'' is the first published work by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. The short collection of poems was first published in 1827. Today, it is believed only 12 copies of the collection still exist.
Poe abandoned his foster ...
'', which was only attributed to “a Bostonian”.
A later published version of this poem includes the following note, “Private reasons—some of which have reference to the sin of plagiarism, and other to the date of Tennyson’s first poems—have induced me, after some hesitation, to re-publish these, the crude compositions of my earliest boyhood. They are printed ''verbatim''—without alteration from the original edition—the date of which is too remote to be judiciously acknowledged.”
[Poe, Edgar Allan. ''Poetry and Tales''. New York: Library of America, 1984. p. 39]
References
External links
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{{Edgar Allan Poe
Poetry by Edgar Allan Poe
1829 poems
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