Ride, Boldly Ride!

I would like to find El Dorado some day.

I came across this poem last October. It gave me chills the first time I read it. A few months later, my student Matt wrote a song about El Dorado as well, which reminded me of the specter's admonition: "Ride, boldly ride!"

Keep questing. It's out there.

“Eldorado” by Edgar Allen 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!”