Israfel
1831
First Published
3.41
Average Rating
4
Number of Pages
Written while Poe was at West Point, "Israfel" is a poem in eight stanzas of varying lengths that was first published in April 1831 in Poems of Edgar A. Poe. It was re-worked and republished for the August 1836 issue of the Southern Literary Messenger. In an introduction to the poem, Poe says that Israfel is described in the Koran as an angel whose heart is a lute and who has "the sweetest voice of all God's creatures." His song quiets the stars, the poem says, while the Earth-bound poet is limited in his own "music". Poe's friend Thomas Holley Chivers said "Israfil" comes the closest to matching Poe's ideal of the art of poetry.[21]
Avg Rating
3.41
Number of Ratings
144
5 STARS
17%
4 STARS
28%
3 STARS
39%
2 STARS
13%
1 STARS
3%
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