Gaily bedight

A gallant knight

In sunshine and in shadow

Had journeyed long

Singing a song

In search of Eldorado

But he grew old-

This knight so bold-

And o'er his heart a shadow

Fell as he found

No spot of ground

That looked like Eldorado

And, as his strength

Failed him at length

He met a pilgrim shadow-

"Shadow," said he,

"Where can it be-

This land of Eldorado?"

Over the Mountains

Of the Moon,

Down the Valley of the Shadow,

Ride, boldly ride,"

The shade replied-

If you see for Eldorado

Edgar Allan Poe

There you have it, an american genius, Edgar Allan Poe. It is a great poem; he was an interesting man.

Had to get the poem out and read it today after wrapping up in a blanket and watching El Dorado. I love John Wayne. I love his movies, most of them anyway, some I like better than others. El Dorado is one of my favorites. Not only do I get to watch The Duke, the movie stars Robert Mitchum and James Caan (whose character, Mississippi, recites the poem throughout the film, so excellently.

It is funny however that I always think the line is "Ride boly Ride" instead of boldly. I don't know if that is because I have always missed the actual word, or if they wrote it that way for the movie. It is absolutey marvelous in any case.

Now I want to watch more John Wayne and get out the collected works of Edgar Allan Poe.