The Museum Collection"Sonnet-- To Science" in The Casket
Detail of Poe's Poem
The text of this early version of "Sonnet--To Science" reads:
"SCIENCE, meet daughter of old time thou art, Who alterest all things with thy piercing eyes! Why pray'st thou thus upon the poet's heart -- Vulture, whose wings are dull realities! How shall he love thee, or how deem thee wise, Who wouldst not leave him in his wandering, To seek for treasure in the jewell'd skies, Albeit he soar with an undaunted wing. Hast thou not dragg'd Diana from her car, And driven the Hamadryad from the wood, To seek for shelter in some happier star, The gentle Nais from the fountain flood. The elfin from the greenwood and from me, The summer's dream beneath the shrubbery." 
Poe's Poem
Poe's poem appears near the top right under the title "Sonnet."
October 1830 Title Page
Title Page for 1830
Description: Edgar Poe's early poem "Sonnet--To Science" first appeared in his second book Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems in 1829. A revised version was printed in The Saturday Evening Post on September 11, 1830. The present printing was copied from that printing. Poe would continue to revise and reprint the poem for the rest of his career. Versions appeared in both his 1831 and 1845 volumes of poetry as well as in the Southern LIterary Messenger, Graham's Magazine, The Saturday Museum, and The Broadway Journal. The poem did not reach its present state until 1845 (15 years after ithis printing in the Casket).The Casket (also known as Atkinson's Casket or The Casket and Philadelphia Monthly Magazine) was a Philadelphia literary magazine that began publication in 1826 and continued until its acquisition in 1840 by George Rex Graham who merged it with Burton's Gentleman's Magazine to form Graham's Magazine. At different times, Poe edited both Burton's and Graham's. Poe's poems and stories would also appear in The Casket in May 1831 and December 1840. Search CollectionCategories
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