RIDE, BOLDLY RIDE

I'm a Poe fan. That's Edgar Allan Poe. Eldorado is one of my favorite poems of all time.

Why? Well, as with most poems, it is a metaphor for what ever you want it to be (regardless of what the author intended it to mean). Eldorado has two definitions: A legendary kingdom of enormous wealth for anyone who can find it; and an unattainable idea.

Some say that the gallant knight represents the author and his search for peace, his nirvana. Some say the knight represents the transcendentalist movement of Poe's time. Some say the poem is about each of us living our lives and trying to find where we fit in. That many of us grow old and never find our "Eldorado" — that place where we belong.

Maybe Poe is telling us not to waste our time. Not to chase shadows — those things that are unattainable. Of course, it could simply mean when your time comes, man up to it and ride boldly to your demise.

But I like to think of it in a more optimistic light. That after years of searching and hard work trying to obtain his goal, God sends the gallant knight an angel (the pilgrim shadow) to show him the way. Only now, in his older years is the knight ready to ask for help. And only now is he ready to listen. It's no time to give up now. If you want to achieve your dream sometimes you have to descend into the valley of the shadow. Just remember to ride, boldly ride ...

ELDORADO by Edgar Allan Poe

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 seek for Eldorado!"