Ballad · Life
Eldorado
by Edgar Allan Poe · 1849
Gaily bedight,
A gallant knight,
In sunshine and in shadow,
Had journeyed long,
Singing a song,
In search of Eldorado.
But he grew old —
This knight so bold —
And o'er his heart a shadow
Fell as he found
No spot of ground
That looked like Eldorado.
And, as his strength
Failed him at length,
He met a pilgrim shadow —
"Shadow," said he,
"Where can it be —
This land of Eldorado?"
"Over the Mountains
Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,"
The shade replied,
"If you seek for Eldorado!"
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“Eldorado” by Edgar Allan Poe — quilloak.com/poems/eldorado
Quick facts
- Poem
- Eldorado
- Poet
- Edgar Allan Poe
- Published
- 1849
- Length
- 24 lines
- Form
- Ballad, Narrative Poem
- Themes
- Life, Inspirational
Craft notes
How this poem works
Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.
- Shape
- 24 lines · 3 stanzas of 6–12 lines
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Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- Edgar Allan Poe1809–1849
- Source record
- PoetryDBEldorado by edgar-allan-poe, PoetryDB transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- 1849
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 c102442acae75bbc…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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