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Lyric Poem · Love

Hymn To Aristogeiton And Harmodius

by Edgar Allan Poe

1Wreathed in myrtle, my sword I'll conceal,

2 Like those champions devoted and brave,

3When they plunged in the tyrant their steel,

4 And to Athens deliverance gave.

5Beloved heroes! your deathless souls roam

6 In the joy breathing isles of the blest;

7Where the mighty of old have their home —

8 Where Achilles and Diomed rest.

9In fresh myrtle my blade I'll entwine,

10 Like Harmodius, the gallant and good,

11When he made at the tutelar shrine

12 A libation of Tyranny's blood.

13Ye deliverers of Athens from shame!

14 Ye avengers of Liberty's wrongs!

15Endless ages shall cherish your fame,

16 Embalmed in their echoing songs!

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Quick facts

Poem
Hymn To Aristogeiton And Harmodius
Poet
Edgar Allan Poe
Length
16 lines
Form
Lyric Poem
Themes
Love, War & Remembrance, Peace

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
16 lines · 4 quatrains
Line length
Mostly 9-syllable lines.
The poem’s silhouette — approximate syllables per line, measured from the text above. Even bars mean a measured line; ragged bars mean the poem sets its own widths.

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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
PoetryDBHymn To Aristogeiton And Harmodius by edgar-allan-poe, PoetryDB transcription
Display decision
Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record
Not recorded in the imported source
Text fingerprint
SHA-256 6539d1b9f8135ae8
Editorial handling
Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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