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ReadingWillow structured literacy program for Australian students

The Valley Of Unrest

Edgar Allan Poe·1809–1849
Lines:27Movement:Romanticism
_Once_ it smiled a silent dellWhere the people did not dwell;They had gone unto the wars,Trusting to the mild-eyed stars,Nightly, from their azure towers,To keep watch above the flowers,In the midst of which all dayThe red sun-light lazily lay,_Now_ each visitor shall confessThe sad valley's restlessness.Nothing there is motionless--Nothing save the airs that broodOver the magic solitude.Ah, by no wind are stirred those treesThat palpitate like the chill seasAround the misty Hebrides!Ah, by no wind those clouds are drivenThat rustle through the unquiet HeavenUnceasingly, from morn till even,Over the violets there that lieIn myriad types of the human eye--Over the lilies that waveAnd weep above a nameless grave!They wave:--from out their fragrant topsEternal dews come down in drops.They weep:--from off their delicate stemsPerennial tears descend in gems.