In Poe’s acrostic, he uses the first letter of the first stanza, the second letter of the second stanza, and so on to conceal the name: “Frances Sargent Osgood.”

“A Valentine” by Edgar Allan Poe (published 1850)

For her this rhyme is penned, whose luminous eyes,
Brightly expressive as the twins of Lœda,
Shall find her own sweet name, that, nestling lies
Upon the page, enwrapped from every reader.
Search narrowly the lines! — they hold a treasure
Divine – a talisman — an amulet
That must be worn at heart. Search well the measure –
The words – the syllables! Do not forget
The trivialest 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 comprehend the plot.
Enwritten upon the leaf where now are peering
Eyes scintillating soul, there lie perdus
Three eloquent words 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

In my acrostic, I assigned notes to each letter of the alphabet and then used the first note in every musical phrase to spell out the name: “Edgar Allan Poe.”  I started out by mapping out the notes in his name, and then expanded each one into a music phrase.  Over time, I developed a simple AAB form and then added some harmony.  The piece is flowing and interpateive.  On Wednesday, I’ll be peforming it with Molly Zenobia, Tony Leva & Nate Greenslit.  Come on down to the Somerville Theatre to hear for yourself (Facebook Invite).

Dream Within A Dream: Box Five’s Edgar Allan Poe Tour @ The Somerville Theatre; Wednesday, October 5th