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Lyric Poem · Love

To Frances S. Osgood

by Edgar Allan Poe

1Thou wouldst be loved? — then let thy heart

2 From its present pathway part not;

3Being everything which now thou art,

4 Be nothing which thou art not.

5So with the world thy gentle ways,

6 Thy grace, thy more than beauty,

7Shall be an endless theme of praise.

8 And love a simple duty.

Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.

Quick facts

Poem
To Frances S. Osgood
Poet
Edgar Allan Poe
Length
8 lines
Form
Lyric Poem, Short Poems
Themes
Love, Short

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
8 lines · one 8-line stanza
End rhyme
ABABCDCD.
Line length
Lines run 7-9 syllables (median 8), consistent with tetrameter. No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.
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.

Want the rules this form is measured against? Read what makes a lyric poem, or run your own draft through the form checker to see the same measurements on your lines. How we measure · Report a mistake

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
PoetryDBTo Frances S. Osgood 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 e7e02b532ea0243d
Editorial handling
Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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