"(To Octavia)" is a short poem by Edgar Allan Poe in which a speaker confesses that even amid laughter, wine, and the warmth of friendship, his heart cannot escape its devotion to Octavia. He pleads with her not to strip away the one bittersweet comfort left to him — the aching hope that his longing will, beat by beat, finally break him free. The poem is brief but cuts deep, balancing festive joy against private, consuming grief.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ririro-com-poetry--6577576/support.

"To Margaret" by Edgar Allan Poe is a short, tongue-in-cheek poem assembled almost entirely from borrowed lines — Milton, Cowper, Shakespeare, and Pope — each attributed with mock-scholarly precision. The poem poses a sly, self-contradicting argument: that writing is a "foul revolt" from beauty and wisdom, only to close with Pope's paradox that not writing is divine. The result is less a heartfelt address than a literary joke, daring the reader to untangle Poe's own voice from the chorus of borrowed authority.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ririro-com-poetry--6577576/support.

"To Isaac Lea" is a short poem by Edgar Allan Poe in which the speaker reflects on a fateful decision — whether born of choice or chance — to commit entirely to a singular cause. With his worldly goods, wit, soul, and body pledged in full, the speaker frames devotion itself as a kind of fate. The poem is spare and intense, capturing in just four lines the weight of an all-consuming dedication that cannot easily be undone.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ririro-com-poetry--6577576/support.

Stanzas (1845) by Edgar Allan Poe is a poem that moves through moonlit reverie and spiritual longing, tracing the strange power that beauty and light hold over the human soul. A young man communing silently with the Earth carries a torch of passionate life he cannot fully understand. Through shifting images — moonbeams, dew, a broken harp-string — Poe probes the invisible force that stirs feeling from apathy, questioning whether such moments are divine tokens or something stranger and more sovereign.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ririro-com-poetry--6577576/support.

Stanzas (1827) by Edgar Allan Poe is an early poem exploring the mysterious bond between a sensitive spirit and the natural world. Through four lyrical stanzas, Poe reflects on a soul lit by the sun and stars, stirred by moonlight, and caught between earthly passion and spiritual longing. A strange, harp-like awakening runs through the poem — the sense that beauty glimpsed in ordinary life carries a secret meaning, a token of something promised in worlds beyond this one.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ririro-com-poetry--6577576/support.

"Spiritual Song" is a short poem by Edgar Allan Poe that opens with a commanding call to listen — "Hark, echo!" — before dissolving into a fleeting vision of archangels wrapped in pure happiness. In just a few spare lines, Poe conjures a sense of celestial sound hovering at the edge of perception, as if the divine can only be glimpsed in the briefest of moments. The poem's brevity is its power, leaving the reader suspended between the earthly act of listening and something far beyond it.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ririro-com-poetry--6577576/support.

"Serenade" by Edgar Allan Poe unfolds in a world suspended between waking and sleep, where the speaker addresses his beloved Adeline in a voice so soft it barely disturbs the night. Stars, ocean, and mountain all rest in shared silence, and even the Pleiades find their mirror in the deep. The speaker fears that any sound — even a lute — might break the spell, yet he murmurs on, longing for their souls to mingle in that fragile, dreamlike space between thought and feeling.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ririro-com-poetry--6577576/support.

"O, Tempora! O, Mores!" is a satirical poem by Edgar Allan Poe that takes sharp, comedic aim at the declining manners and hollow vanities of his era. The speaker wrestles with whether to weep like Heraclitus or laugh like Democritus at the absurdity around him — and settles, grumpily, on a growl. His chief target is a preening shop boy named Pitts, whose curls, coat, and ankle consume more thought than his brain ever could. Poe's wit is dry, his mockery affectionate yet cutting.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ririro-com-poetry--6577576/support.

"Lines on Ale" is a short poem by Edgar Allan Poe that trades gothic dread for gleeful indulgence. The speaker raises a glass of cream-laced amber ale and welcomes the quaint thoughts and queer fancies that bubble up through his pleasantly clouded mind. Light, rhythmic, and almost defiantly carefree, the poem captures a rare mood from Poe — one of warmth and whimsy — as the speaker dismisses the march of time in favour of another satisfying drink.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ririro-com-poetry--6577576/support.

"Impromptu. To Kate Carol" is a short poem by Edgar Allan Poe that captures a charming moment of admiration caught between two kinds of brilliance. The speaker, turning from the "gems of thought" found in Kate Carol's words, finds himself equally captivated by her eyes — and delightfully uncertain which deserves greater praise. The poem's final line delivers a clever pun that transforms a simple compliment into a flash of wit, blending intellectual admiration with personal charm in just four lines.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ririro-com-poetry--6577576/support.