“All that we see or seem

Is but a dream within a dream.”

Edgar Allan Poe, A Dream Within a Dream

Good afternoon, my poetry virtuosos! Melissa here from Mom With a Blog, welcoming you to Monday Prosery here at the Pub. I was elated after searching through our archives and finding we have not (yet) used any of Poe’s work for a prosery prompt. That changes today!

What is prosery? A very short piece of prose or flash fiction that tells a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. It can be any genre you choose, but it does have a limit of 144 words. Somewhere within your story, you must include given lines without changing word order or adding any words. You may add or change punctuation.

Born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1809, to parents David and Eliza, Edgar {Allan} Poe was given no middle name at birth. When Poe was a baby, his father abandoned the family and his mother died shortly thereafter. Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan of Virginia, and the surname was added.

Although he garnered acclaim through winning writing contests, publication of his work, and serving as editor and literary critic, Poe’s work did not bring him much income. His drinking was also a hinderance for him throughout his life. His romanticism of the macabre and mysterious probably served as its own form of escapism.

Poe was nothing short of lyrical genius, emphasizing mastery of language. “Experimenting with combinations of sound and rhythm, he employed such technical devices as repetition, parallelism, internal rhyme, alliteration, and assonance to produce works that are unique in American poetry for their haunting, musical quality” (source). Enjoy the following selections.

from “Fairyland”

Dim vales — and shadowy floods —
And cloudy-looking woods,
Whose forms we can’t discover
For the tears that drip all over.
Huge moons there wax and wane —
Again — again — again —
Ev’ry moment of the night —
For ever changing places —
And they put out the star-light
With the breath from their pale faces;

from “The Haunted Palace”

Wanderers in that happy valley,
Through two luminous windows, saw
Spirits moving musically
To a lute’s well-tunèd law,
Round about a throne where, sitting,
Porphyrogene!
In state his glory well befitting,
The ruler of the realm was seen.

“Hymn”

At morn — at noon — at twilight dim —
Maria! thou hast heard my hymn!
In joy and wo — in good and ill —
Mother of God, be with me still!
When the Hours flew brightly by,
And not a cloud obscured the sky,
My soul, lest it should truant be,
Thy grace did guide to thine and thee;
Now, when storms of Fate o’ercast
Darkly my Present and my Past,
Let my Future radiant shine
With sweet hopes of thee and thine!

It is believed that Poe suffered with delirium for days up until his death, and that one of Baltimore’s oldest bars was one of his last stops. He was found in a gutter at Fell’s Point, and is buried at Westminster Hall, a historic architectural landmark.

For today’s prosery prompt, I am taking lines from Poe’s “Sleeper”, which may be read in its entirety here. Your lines are as follows:

I pray to God that she may lie
Forever with unopened eye

If you’re new, here is how to join us:

• Write a piece of prosery of up to or exactly 144 words, including the given lines in the order in which they have been given. You may add or change punctuation, but you may not add or delete words.
• Enter your name and a link directly to your post into Mr. Linky. Remember to check the box to accept use/privacy policy.
• Read other writers’ work as they enter their links into Mr. Linky. Check back as more will be added.
• Please link back to dVerse from your post.
• Have a wonderful time!🎉

Mr. Linky will remain open until 3pm EST on Monday, June 10, 2024.