The One remains, the many change and pass;
Heaven’s light forever shines, Earth’s shadows fly;
Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass,
Stains the white radiance of Eternity,

Our dear Edgar, as you are doubtless aware, was something of a romantic, or at the very least aspired to write romantic poetry. The four lines above are very much of the romantic poetry tradition. They were read out by Mick Jagger at fellow Rolling Stone Brian Jones funeral. They are not however the words of Poe, but come from the poem Adonis, by Percy Bysshe Shelley, who is perhaps most remembered in these latter days, despite his own fame, as the husband of Mary Shelley.

The Shelley’s were of course at the heart of the 18th century Romantic tradition, as they hang about with that big blouse wearing, opium addict, syphilitic and peer of the realm Bryon. they went to all the best parties in Italy, got annoyed by that bloke Coleridge and his obsession with enormous sea birds and told ghost stories that would cause generations to come to find themselves pointing out that Frankenstein was the name of the Doctor not the monster… heady days.

Edgar, the romantic and poet, of the mid 19th century probably wished he had been around fifty years earlier when the Romantics movement was in full swing. he would have been gutted had he known the New Romantics movement would not turn up for another hundred and forty years, though I am not sure what he would have thought of Spandau Ballet, but he would have probably loved Adam and the Ants… because who doesn’t.

In any regard, if this all seems a little off track and your wondering what it has to do with anything, it is all about the third line in that snippet from Shelley’s Adonis.

Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass,

Because our dear Edgar stole it, or at least part of it, for his own fanciful romantic tale Eleonora.

The Eleonora of the title is the love of the narrators life, his cousin… he lives with her and his aunt in The Valley of the Many-Coloured Grass, which is an idyllic paradise full of fragrant flowers, fantastic trees, pink flamingos and a River of Silence. An isolated little world all of its own untrodden by the footsteps of strangers. And in the valley of the many-coloured grass the cousins fall in a deep all abiding love.

So that bodes well….

When Poe wrote this tale, that is awash with romantic language and imagery, Virginia his wife and half-counion had herself fallen ill, with the sickness that would eventually, in five more years, be the death of her. Aspects of this story foreshadow her demise, and there is little doubt that when writing a tale of romance such as this, certain autobiographic aspects were imbued in the story. Poe’s deep romantic attachment to Virginia is well documented. While their familial relationship, and Virginia’s age when they wed leads to a discomfort among our modern sensibilities, that he loved her and that love was reciprocated is hard to dispute.

Eleonora falls ill, and the tranquil joy of the valley of many-coloured grass is broken with it. The River of silence grows murky, flowers wilt, the fantastic trees shed leaves and the flamingos fly off never to return. The valley of many-coloured grass is no longer a sweet eden in which innocents dream of love. But before she dies Eleonora extracts a promise from her lover, that he will never forget her, or the Valley of the many coloured grass. That he will hold her forever in his heart and love no other.

And so our narrator vows to her, with ‘the Mighty Ruler of the Universe’ as his witness, that he will never bind himself in marriage ‘to any daughter of Earth’. Which is a beautiful sentiment, and of course and utterly foolish vow. This is a story by Poe , we have read Ligeia we have read Morella, we can all see where this is going. You don’t make a vow to a dying woman in a Poe story and not expect to pay a price for it later in the tale.

Eleonora dies, the valley dies with her, at least in the eyes to the protagonist, and he leaves the valley. Time passes and eventually he finds himself in a strange city. In that strange city far form the valley of the many-coloured grass he meets Ermengarde, a beautiful woman who fills the void in his heart. the memory of the valley and his life with Eleonora a distant memory, he forswears his vow and marries Ermengarde.

Yes, I know, clearly the narrator has never read any Poe…

The shade of his forsaken Eleonora comes one night to visit our narrator from beyond the grave…

So wrathful ghost of a forgotten love visits the man who has forsworn himself in his vow to her, clearly his suffering with be great, his guilt will drive him insane and he shall suffer as will the woman who replaced his lost love. There will be much weeping, a dragging of nails down chalk-boards, the haunting screams of harpies in the night. For guilt and paying for forsaking vows are Poe’s favorite themes. Oh yes, we readers of Dear Edgar know what is coming… Where were we, oh yes…

The shade of his forsaken Eleonora comes one night to visit our narrator from beyond the grave….

Sleep in peace! — for the Spirit of Love reigneth and ruleth, and, in taking to thy passionate heart her who is Ermengarde, thou art absolved, for reasons which shall be made known to thee in Heaven, of thy vows unto Eleonora.

If that is not a twist of an ending to a Poe story I don’t know what is. A vow forgiven, a blessing given… It is almost as if our Dear Edgar was suddenly faced with the mortality of the woman he loved and was dealing with the concept of life beyond Virginia. Or perhaps that is just projection on our part knowing what was instore. What is sure is this is a very different Poe romance. The Valley of the many-coloured grass is a different setting to the dark gothic houses and castles you normally find in his fiction. The lovers have passion but not rage, joy but not anger. It is arguably his most romantic tale. Certainly the imagery has deep sexual overtones, while there is innocence and awaking knowledge within the story. It is a beautiful piece with a surprising ending, if only because it is not an ending you would expect from a tale by Poe.

The hero of the tale is love itself and the hero wins out over. I am sure Percy Shelley would have approved, once the opium wore off and if he wasn’t wrestling with Lord Bryon in an Italian lake.

FOUR RAVENS,

SHOULD YOU READ IT: This is very much a tale written as prose poetry. It is romantic and uses romantic language. You should perhaps read it to your lover by candle light..

Bluffers fact:  Ermengarde is an odd name, the use of it in this story inspired H.P. Lovecraft, who read a lot of Poe, to use the name in ‘Sweet Ermengarde’ in a story he wrote mocking a certain kind of romantic fiction prevalent in the 1920’s. That story inspired the name of Sweet Ermengarde, a German Goth Rock band, who are a lovely bunch of fellows who once offered me tickets to their UK tour, just before it was scuppered by covid. You should look them up, they are well worth a listen.