A Valentine

By Edgar Allan Poe

                    For her these lines are penned, whose luminious eyes,
                         Brightly expressive as the twins of Leda,
                    Shall find her own sweet name that, nestling, lies
                         Upon this page, enwrapped from every reader.
                    Search narrowly this rhyme, which holds a treasure
                         Divine--a talisman--an amulet
                    That must be worn at heart.  Search well the measure;
                         The words--the letters themselves. Do not forget
                    The trivialist point, or you may lose your labor.
                         And yet there is in this no Gordian knot
                    Which one might not undo without a sabre,
                         If one could merely understand the plot.
                    Enwritten upon this page whereon are peering
                         Such eager eyes, there lies, I say, perdu,
                    A well-known name, oft uttered in the hearing
                         Of poets, by poets; as the name is a poet's, too.
                    Its letters, although naturally lying--
                         Like the knight Pinto (Mendez Ferdinando)--
                    Still form a synonym for truth. Cease trying!
                         You will not read the riddle though you do the best you can do.