Lyric Poem · Love

To Frances S. Osgood

by Edgar Allan Poe

Thou wouldst be loved? — then let thy heart

From its present pathway part not;

Being everything which now thou art,

Be nothing which thou art not.

So with the world thy gentle ways,

Thy grace, thy more than beauty,

Shall be an endless theme of praise.

And love a simple duty.

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“To Frances S. Osgood” by Edgar Allan Poe — quilloak.com/poems/to-frances-s-osgood

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.

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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: 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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Lyric Poem Short Poems Love Short

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