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Poem: Ulalume [or Ulalume—a Ballad]

Author: Edgar Allan Poe (1809–49) [bio]

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3  <person id="9482" sex="1" role="author">
4    <name>
5      <firstname>Edgar Allan</firstname>
6      <lastname>Poe</lastname>
7    </name>
8    <life-events>
9      <date ty="birth" circa="false" suffix="ad">1809</date>
10      <date ty="death" circa="false" suffix="ad">1849</date>
11      <text-value>(1809–49)</text-value>
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16

The skies they were ashen and sober;

The leaves they were crispèd and sere--

The leaves they were withering and sere:

It was  night, in the lonesome October   
  Of my most immemorial year;
It was hard by the dim lake of Auber,
   In the  misty mid region of Weir--   
It was down by the dank tarn of Auber,
  In the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir.

Here once, through an alley Titanic,
  Of cypress, I roamed with my Soul--
  Of cypress, with Psyche, my Soul.
These were days when my heart was volcanic
  As the scoriac rivers that roll--
  As the lavas that restlessly roll
Their sulphurous currents down Yaanek
  In the ultimate climes of the Pole--
That groan as they roll down Mount Yaanek
  In the realms of the Boreal Pole.

Our talk had been serious and sober,
  But our thoughts they were palsied and sere--
  Our memories were treacherous and sere--
For we knew not the month was October,
  And we marked not the night of the year--
  (Ah, night of all nights in the year!)
We noted not the dim lake of Auber,
  (Though once we had journeyed down here)
Remembered not the dank tarn of Auber,
  Nor the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir.

And now, as the night was senescent
  And star-dials pointed to morn--
  As the star-dials hinted of morn--
At the end of our path a liquescent
  And nebulous luster was born.
Out of which a miraculous crescent
  Arose with a duplicate horn--
Astarte's bediamonded crescent
  Distinct with its duplicate horn.

And I said--"She is warmer than Dian;

She rolls through an ether of sighs--

She revels in a region of sighs:

She has seen that the tears are not dry on

These cheeks, where the worm never dies

And has come past the stars of the Lion

To point us the path to the skies--

To the Lethean peace of the skies--

Come up, in despite of the Lion,

To shine on us with her bright eyes--

Come up through the lair of the Lion

With love in her luminous eyes."

But Psyche, uplifting her finger,
  Said--"Sadly this star I mistrust--
  Her pallor I strangely mistrust--
Oh, hasten!--oh, let us not linger!
  Oh, fly!--let us fly!--for we must."
In terror she spoke, letting sink her
  Wings till they trailed in the dust--
In agony sobbed, letting sink her
  Plumes till they trailed in the dust--
  Till they sorrowfully trailed in the dust.

I replied--"This is nothing but dreaming:
  Let us on by this tremulous light!
  Let us bathe in this crystalline light!
Its sybillic splendor is beaming
  With Hope and in Beauty to-night:--
  See! it flickers up the sky through the night!
Ah, we safely may trust to its gleaming,
  And be sure it will lead us aright:
We safely may trust to a gleaming
  That cannot but guide us aright,
  Since it flickers up to Heaven through the night."

Thus I pacified Psyche and kissed her,
  And tempted her out of her gloom--
  And conquered her scruples and gloom;

And we passed to the end of a vista,

But were stopped by the door of a tomb--

By the door of a legended tomb;

And I said--" What is written, sweet sister,

On the door of this legended tomb?"

She replied--"Ulalume--Ulalume!--

'Tis the vault of thy lost Ulalume!"

Then my heart it grew ashen and sober
  As the leaves that were crispèd and sere--
  As the leaves that were withering and sere;
And I cried--"It was surely October
  On this very night of last year
  That I journeyed--I journeyed down here--
  That I brought a dread burden down here!
  On this night of all nights in the year,
  Ah, what demon has tempted me here?
Well I know, now, this dim lake of Auber--
  This misty mid region of Weir--
Well I know, now, this dank tarn of Aubur--
  This ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir."

Said we, then--the two, then--"Ah, can it
  Have been that the woodlandish ghouls--
  The pitiful, the merciful ghouls,
To bar up our way and to ban it
  From the secret that lies in these wolds--
  From the thing that lies hidden in these wolds--
Have drawn up the spectre of a planet 
  From the limbo of lunary souls--
This sinfully scintillant planet
  From the Hell of the planetary souls?"

To cite this poem:

MLA
Poe, Edgar Allan. “Ulalume [or Ulalume—a Ballad].” Columbia Granger's World of Poetry Online. 2026. Columbia University Press. 7 Oct. 2026. <http://www.columbiagrangers.org>.

Chicago Manual of Style
Edgar Allan Poe. “Ulalume [or Ulalume—a Ballad].” Columbia Granger's World of Poetry Online. http://www.columbiagrangers.org (accessed October 7, 2026).

          
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111          <firstname>Edgar Allan</firstname>
112          <lastname>Poe</lastname>
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114        <life-events>
115          <date ty="birth" circa="false" suffix="ad">1809</date>
116          <date ty="death" circa="false" suffix="ad">1849</date>
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125      <variant-title>
126        <title>To———. Ulalume: A Ballad</title>
127      </variant-title>
128      <title id="00000078118P01">
129        Ulalume [
130        <i>or</i>
131        Ulalume—a Ballad]
132      </title>
133      <firstline>Skies they were ashen and sober, The</firstline>
134      <lastline>This ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir</lastline>
135    </citation-form>
136    <fulltext processed="true" processed-lines="true">
137      <stanza>
138        <line n="1">The  skies they were ashen and sober;</line>
139        <line n="2">The leaves they were crispèd and sere--</line>
140        <line n="3">The leaves they were withering and sere:</line>
141      </stanza>
142      <stanza>
143        <line n="4">It was  night, in the lonesome October</line>
144        <line n="5">Of my most immemorial year;</line>
145        <line n="6">It was hard by the dim lake of Auber,</line>
146        <line n="7">In the  misty mid region of Weir--</line>
147        <line n="8">It was down by the dank tarn of Auber,</line>
148        <line n="9">In the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir.</line>
149      </stanza>
150      <stanza>
151        <line n="10">Here once, through an alley Titanic,</line>
152        <line n="11">Of cypress, I roamed with my Soul--</line>
153        <line n="12">Of cypress, with Psyche, my Soul.</line>
154        <line n="13">These were days when my heart was volcanic</line>
155        <line n="14">As the scoriac rivers that roll--</line>
156        <line n="15">As the lavas that restlessly roll</line>
157        <line n="16">Their sulphurous currents down Yaanek</line>
158        <line n="17">In the ultimate climes of the Pole--</line>
159        <line n="18">That groan as they roll down Mount Yaanek</line>
160        <line n="19">In the realms of the Boreal Pole.</line>
161      </stanza>
162      <stanza>
163        <line n="20">Our talk had been serious and sober,</line>
164        <line n="21">But our thoughts they were palsied and sere--</line>
165        <line n="22">Our memories were treacherous and sere--</line>
166        <line n="23">For we knew not the month was October,</line>
167        <line n="24">And we marked not the night of the year--</line>
168        <line n="25">(Ah, night of all nights in the year!)</line>
169        <line n="26">We noted not the dim lake of Auber,</line>
170        <line n="27">(Though once we had journeyed down here)</line>
171        <line n="28">Remembered not the dank tarn of Auber,</line>
172        <line n="29">Nor the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir.</line>
173      </stanza>
174      <stanza>
175        <line n="30">And now, as the night was senescent</line>
176        <line n="31">And star-dials pointed to morn--</line>
177        <line n="32">As the star-dials hinted of morn--</line>
178        <line n="33">At the end of our path a liquescent</line>
179        <line n="34">And nebulous luster was born.</line>
180        <line n="35">Out of which a miraculous crescent</line>
181        <line n="36">Arose with a duplicate horn--</line>
182        <line n="37">Astarte's bediamonded crescent</line>
183        <line n="38">Distinct with its duplicate horn.</line>
184      </stanza>
185      <stanza>
186        <line n="39">And I said--"She is warmer than Dian;</line>
187        <line n="40">She rolls through an ether of sighs--</line>
188        <line n="41">She revels in a region of sighs:</line>
189        <line n="42">She has seen that the tears are not dry on</line>
190        <line n="43">These cheeks, where the worm never dies</line>
191        <line n="44">And has come past the stars of the Lion</line>
192        <line n="45">To point us the path to the skies--</line>
193        <line n="46">To the Lethean peace of the skies--</line>
194        <line n="47">Come up, in despite of the Lion,</line>
195        <line n="48">To shine on us with her bright eyes--</line>
196        <line n="49">Come up through the lair of the Lion</line>
197        <line n="50">With love in her luminous eyes."</line>
198      </stanza>
199      <stanza>
200        <line n="51">But Psyche, uplifting her finger,</line>
201        <line n="52">Said--"Sadly this star I mistrust--</line>
202        <line n="53">Her pallor I strangely mistrust--</line>
203        <line n="54">Oh, hasten!--oh, let us not linger!</line>
204        <line n="55">Oh, fly!--let us fly!--for we must."</line>
205        <line n="56">In terror she spoke, letting sink her</line>
206        <line n="57">Wings till they trailed in the dust--</line>
207        <line n="58">In agony sobbed, letting sink her</line>
208        <line n="59">Plumes till they trailed in the dust--</line>
209        <line n="60">Till they sorrowfully trailed in the dust.</line>
210      </stanza>
211      <stanza>
212        <line n="61">I replied--"This is nothing but dreaming:</line>
213        <line n="62">Let us on by this tremulous light!</line>
214        <line n="63">Let us bathe in this crystalline light!</line>
215        <line n="64">Its sybillic splendor is beaming</line>
216        <line n="65">With Hope and in Beauty to-night:--</line>
217        <line n="66">See! it flickers up the sky through the night!</line>
218        <line n="67">Ah, we safely may trust to its gleaming,</line>
219        <line n="68">And be sure it will lead us aright:</line>
220        <line n="69">We safely may trust to a gleaming</line>
221        <line n="70">That cannot but guide us aright,</line>
222        <line n="71">Since it flickers up to Heaven through the night."</line>
223      </stanza>
224      <stanza>
225        <line n="72">Thus I pacified Psyche and kissed her,</line>
226        <line n="73">And tempted her out of her gloom--</line>
227        <line n="74">And conquered her scruples and gloom;</line>
228      </stanza>
229      <stanza>
230        <line n="75">And we  passed to the end of a vista,</line>
231        <line n="76">But were stopped by the door of a tomb--</line>
232        <line n="77">By the  door of a legended tomb;</line>
233        <line n="78">And I said--" What is written, sweet sister,</line>
234        <line n="79">On the door of this legended tomb?"</line>
235        <line n="80">She replied--"Ulalume--Ulalume!--</line>
236        <line n="81">'Tis the  vault of thy lost Ulalume!"</line>
237      </stanza>
238      <stanza>
239        <line n="82">Then my heart it grew ashen and sober</line>
240        <line n="83">As the leaves that were crispèd and sere--</line>
241        <line n="84">As the leaves that were withering and sere;</line>
242        <line n="85">And I cried--"It was surely October</line>
243        <line n="86">On this very night of last year</line>
244        <line n="87">That I journeyed--I journeyed down here--</line>
245        <line n="88">That I brought a dread burden down here!</line>
246        <line n="89">On this night of all nights in the year,</line>
247        <line n="90">Ah, what demon has tempted me here?</line>
248        <line n="91">Well I know, now, this dim lake of Auber--</line>
249        <line n="92">This misty mid region of Weir--</line>
250        <line n="93">Well I know, now, this dank tarn of Aubur--</line>
251        <line n="94">This ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir."</line>
252      </stanza>
253      <stanza>
254        <line n="95">Said we, then--the two, then--"Ah, can it</line>
255        <line n="96">Have been that the woodlandish ghouls--</line>
256        <line n="97">The pitiful, the merciful ghouls,</line>
257        <line n="98">To bar up our way and to ban it</line>
258        <line n="99">From the secret that lies in these wolds--</line>
259        <line n="100">From the thing that lies hidden in these wolds--</line>
260        <line n="101">Have drawn up the spectre of a planet</line>
261        <line n="102">From the limbo of lunary souls--</line>
262        <line n="103">This sinfully scintillant planet</line>
263        <line n="104">From the Hell of the planetary souls?"</line>
264      </stanza>
265    </fulltext>
266    <authors>
267      <author>
268        <person id="9482" sex="1" role="author">
269          <name>
270            <firstname>Edgar Allan</firstname>
271            <lastname>Poe</lastname>
272          </name>
273          <life-events>
274            <date ty="birth" circa="false" suffix="ad">1809</date>
275            <date ty="death" circa="false" suffix="ad">1849</date>
276            <text-value>(1809–49)</text-value>
277          </life-events>
278          <biography>y</biography>
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288        <title id="00000078118P01">
289          Ulalume [
290          <i>or</i>
291          Ulalume—a Ballad]
292        </title>
293        <firstline>Skies they were ashen and sober, The</firstline>
294        <lastline>This ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir</lastline>
295      </citation-form>
296      <fulltext>y</fulltext>
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300