Acrostic Poem Edgar Allan Poe Knows

Not long ago, I came across this archaic poem that read funny to me.

On the surface, it was one of those nineteenth-century love poems

that makes little sense to us now because of its big words mixed with

our Artificially Ignorant (AI) minds from "clicking now" for anything

that we need, anytime we want. But that wasn't on my mind as I

reread those words several times searching for the correct

understanding associate with each letter. That's when the secret

meaning came to me: it's not just a well worded poem, it's an Acrostic

Poem. 

What Sayeth You, AI?

What is an Acrostic Poem? 

Acrostic writing is a form of poetry where the first letter of each line, read vertically, spells out a word or phrase. 

Expert Samples From The Experts Watching Over Us. 

This poem is one of several acrostics Poe wrote for the amusement of female admirers. Here, the first letter of each line spells “Elizabeth.” In the following text, the key for the acrostic is shown in red: 

Elizabethitisinvainyousay 

Lovenotthousayestitinsosweetaway 

InvainthosewordsfromtheeorLEL 

Zantippestalentshadenforcedsowell 

Ahifthatlanguagefromthyheartarise 

Breatheitlessgentlyforthandveilthineeyes 

EndymionrecollectwhenLunatried 

Tocurehislovewascuredofallbeside 

Hisfollyprideandpassionforhedied 

The poem was never published during his lifetime. It was discovered by James H. Whitty, who in his 1911 edition of Poe's poems printed it with the title “From an Album.” 

L. E. L. is presumably Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802-1838), a popular English poetess who typically signed her poems with those initials. 

Zantippe is actually Xanthippe, the wife of the famous Greek philosopher Socrates. Poe intentionally misspelled the name for the sake of the acrostic. Xanthippe, sometimes also spelled Xantippe, was known for her quick and violent temper. Somewhat humorously, Socrates is reputed to have explained to Alcibiades that he remained married to her because “She exercises my patience, and enables me to endure all injustice I experience from others.”  

Edgar Allan Poe: "An Acrostic" 

• E: lizabeth, it is in vain you say 
L: ove not — thou sayest it in so sweet a way: 
I: n vain those words from thee or L. E. L. 
Z: ealous of my despair, you make me so 
A: nd when I look upon thee, you are my only hope 
B: ut I will write a poem for you that can last forever 
E: very moment I spent thinking of you will be a line in this poem 
T: hat your name will be remembered forever 
H: ow I wish that you will be happy with this poem 

Sir John Davies: "Hymne VII: To the Rose" 

E: ye of the Garden, Queene of flowres, 
L: ove's cup wherein he nectar powres, 
I: ngendered first of nectar; 
S: weet nurse-child of the Spring's young howres, 
A: nd Beautie's faire character … 
B: ecause the world is beautiful, and the world is ours. 
E: verything in the world will be better. 
T: he world will change. 
H: appiness will come to you. 
A: ll will be well. 

Lewis Carroll: "A boat, beneath a sunny sky" 

A: boat, beneath a sunny sky 
L: ingering onward dreamily 
I: n an evening of July— 
C: hasing after the moon 
E: verything a dream 

William Blake: "London" 

H: ow the Chimney-sweepers cry. 
O: f every blackning Church appalls, 
W: here the hapless Soldiers sigh. 
T: hat runs in blood down Palace walls. 
H: ow the tears run down your face 
E: very night you cry alone 
C: arelessly you fall 
H: earts are broken in the process. 
I: n the darkness, you are alone. 
M: ay you find your way home. 
N: ever stop looking for the light. 
E: very night you will find it. 
Y: ou will get there someday. 
S: ee the sun shining on your face. 
W: ill you go home? 
E: ventually, you will find your way home. 
E: verything will be alright. 
P: erfectly safe, you will be. 
E: very night you will rest. 
R: eaching for the light, you will get there someday. 
S: ee the sun shining on your face. 
C: hildren of the world, you will get there someday. 
R: eaching for the light, you will get there someday. 
Y: ou will get there 

Expecting to Win to Lose, my Angel 444 Commeth, It's Scorpio Time

It's the day after my last post about gambling. In that post I talked about how in order to win, you have to totally expect not to win. And to know this not with the brain, but with the soul, for the soul knows everything. And I guess I thought I would win with my soul, because in reality I lost my ass. I bet heavily on Cooper Kupp who was expected to have another great came. He always does. All the odds makers said it. So I bet on Cooper and of course, he had a pathetic game. So bad he spent most of it on the bench. The sports headlines go from "Weird Game" to "Irrelevant Game."

Still, I continue to bet on these sports expecting to win again one day, but as long as I know this, I won't. However, not to fear, for I have been giving a sign that good things are coming my way in the form of the numbers 444 appearing on my phone this morning. These are the same numbers that kept popping up when I was claiming victory over lung cancer by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Some know these as Angel Numbers and I'm okay with this, for I know I've heard one of my angels whisper in my ear "It's going to be okay" as I was demolishing my old VW Beetle into an oncoming car, and lived to walk away from it. 

But today is the 23rd of October and we all know what that means: Today (echo, echo, echo...)  is the 23rd of October which means it is Scorpio time of year. The scorpion is regarded as a creature, which has a very tender face to be compared with the countenance of a chaste virgin. Like most women, therefore, it has its beauty and innocent charm. At the same time, however, its opposite end is capable of delivering a painful, possibly fatal sting, and the creature is, therefore, to be feared and avoided. Thus the scorpion evokes the same ambivalence and the same quivering conflict of desire and fear.

Folklore also holds that the oil of the scorpion is a cure for the pain of its sting, and the scorpion is, therefore, all the more appropriate as a symbol of the fair sex, for as Hermann Hesse notes in his book Steppenwolf, "Women...relish much of scorpions, for both have stings, and both can hurt too."

~~Eso "Steppenwolf" Terry

 

The Secret To Gambling

I've written about "Luck" before in my Joan of Arc post, but that was for the initiated, this is for the masses, and not for those faint-of-hearts who see gambling as a character flaw, for if you do see gambling as a flaw, please scroll to the next post, you won't enjoy this one.

Today I will talk about that recreational pass time that is helping millions of brainiacs like me survive today's spiritually-dead world with hard times coming for those of us at the bottom of the financial spectrum. But I'll save the political stuff for BlueSky.com, and stick here with my gambling-jones message for those like minds escaping the news, marriage, job... whatever. We gamble on today's legal "Daily Sports" games allowed almost everywhere, including Texas. So enough of my political sarcasm, and let's look at my gambling problem. Which, I might add, I know is a problem, so it really isn't a problem. That's how the shit works. 

Being a Spiritual Buddhist, I know I won't win until I totally expect not to win. And knowing this sucks, because it has been almost two years since I won 3k on a Basketball Fantasy lineup. Back then I had reached a point where I was sure I wouldn't win any substantial amount and so picked my numbers recklessly, and I won! Now that I know I can win, I can't help but expecting to win again, and so I never will. It is so bad, I fear for the people I bet on. 

Case in point, in tonight's Monday Night Football slate of two games on ESPN.COM, I've chosen Cooper Cup to be the highest point gainer of all receivers. The odds are in my favor according to NFL.com, and so you know what will happen? That's right, sorry Cooper, you will at best be doubled teamed all night, or will get hurt and leave the game. That's how my  gambling goes, and why you deserve the big-bucks you earn chasing a ball. 

As a Buddhist, the things we desire are pushed away; and so if you wan't anything, don't desire it. It's harder than it seems. 

And so I keep gambling thinking I will win big one day, and so I never will win big. I'm designed this way. Ask most winners of anything big in life and they will tell you they didn't desire it. They nonchalantly threw some dice as a joke, or picked a set of lottery numbers with no thought of really winning, and they won.

Yes, dear reader, this is the true secret of life.  So join us tomorrow to see if I'm right or wrong.

Signed, 

Average Joe, AKA Eso Terry. 

President Trump knows Ill Omens, the Escalator Ride was an Ill Omen.

In April 46 BCE, Julius Caesar celebrated a quadruple triumph, which became famous for its extravagance. The end of four wars was celebrated: the war in Gaul, the war in Egypt, the war against Pharnaces of Pontus and the war against king Juba of Numidia. This last war had in fact been a war against the last defenders of the Roman republic, Cato and Scipio. The triumphs are described by the great Greek historian Appian of Alexandria (c.95-c.165) in his History of the Civil Wars. Everyone in Rome was in attendance to cheer on Caesar. 

What is little known, or remembered, about that celebration, is that just as Caesar was to enter the coliseum, by way of the Temple of Fortuna, with those around him chanting "Io triumphe! ('Hurrah for the triumph!')" the axial  on his chariot snapped in two bringing his parade to a halt. Plutarch, the historian who left us this story, says that Caesar knew it was more than just an embarrassment, it was an ill omen of something bad to happen.  A few months later those who Caesar had belittled on his way up, would come together to assassinate him with chants "Caesar must die."  

Fast forward to September 25th, 2025, where President Trump is about to have his moment of celebration, able to speak to the United Nations fully empowered with his victories over the world leaders who had laughed at him six-years earlier.  As the elevator is moving with the cameras on President Trump and his wife Melania, the elevator stops.  Trump turns to the cameras, pissed as hell.  Now a famous picture.

What pissed Trump off so much wasn't the spectacle it created, but the omen of a stopped elevator, after all, he began his successful presidency back in 2015 on another famous escalator ride, as he came down the escalator in Trump Tower to announce his presidency. A joke at the time to everyone but Trump.  Yes, President Trump has proved he is one of the smartest men on the planet, at least in the U.S.A.  He has everyone jumping when he says "jump."  Caesar too had everyone jumping to his command until that March 15 when it all came to an end, and the ides of March became a warning of all powerful men. 

Does this mean the death of President Trump, who has only begun to deliver the world he promised to us, the world where... well, I won't get into it politically, I've already said I support_Trump.  And I also said that one of the big three, that is to say: Trump, Putin, or Xi, won't be alive in 2030. So no predictions here other than Trump knows ill omens, and the United Nation escalator ride was an ill omen. 

That's all for now.  

~~ Eso Terry 

 

Quija Board Essentials

 

Good morning boys and girls.  Today, we take a look at the Quija board.  Yes, that strange magic board that some consider a game and others, well, the gate to hell -- as if such thing exist.  I, for one, believe the Quija board  is a place for mischievous spirits to hang out and fuck with you if you're not careful; you know, beggars on the side of the spiritual highway with a sign that reads, "Please Help, Needs a Ride, God Bless." And if you are lucky, he'll not hijack the car and put you in the back seat and control the rest of your life, which is reason I got rid of my Quija board. 

Unfortunately, the history of the Quija board is as elusive as its "Yes" and "No" answers to serious questions like, "Will The World Ever End?"  "NO."   "Are you sure?"  "YES."

You see. 

The Planchette -- French word for "little plank" -- originated in Europe in the 1850's.  Although it is not clear how it was used back then,  most agree it wasn't for scanning the alphabet for words as it is today, but a tool for automatic writing.  The Quija board we know today comes from a company called the Kennard Novelty Company, which was founded on October 30th, 1890 -- yes, the day before Halloween, or as we used to call it in Detroit, Devil's Night.   And on the same day the company was founded, a patent for the first "talking board" was approved in the US and assigned to Charles W. Kennard et al. 

The word "Quija" itself is a mysterious.  (Alternately pronounced wee-JAA and wee-GEE).   It was originally defined as "good luck" by Charles W Kennard -- the money guy -- but where he got that no one knows, and seems to be one of the reasons that William Fuld, the sweat guy, had Kennard removed from the company and the name changed from the Kennard Novelty Company to The Ouija Novelty Company.  

Eventually the Fuld family sold the Quija Novelty Company to Parker Brothers who moved the company to Salem Massachusetts of Witch Trial fame, and the rest is history as they say. 

 

So, I'll leave it there and tell you that a spiritual guide I worked with in my youth told me the Quija board was a place where bottom feeders of the spirit world live and one should seek spiritual guidance elsewhere.  She noted the dark side of the board which includes such stories as Syvial Plath, who used it to help with her poetry before given into the dark forces of it and taking her own life.  Those dark stories are everywhre with the board.  Once, when I was sixteen a group of us teens played with it and this guy who was a tough guy, doubter, started getting messages from someone who said he knew him.  It the course of several questions he found out it was a friend he had when he was seven and lived in San Antiono.  He hadn't seen that kid since moving away years earlier.  The kid told him he died after he left.  A few days later the guy found out that the kid had died, and swore to never touch the Quija board again. 

Earlier that same year, the woman who lived in the apartment upbove me had a Quija party I attened.  That one got crazy too with the plancett shooting across the room, which ended the game for us all.  That mornoing she banged on my door because her car wouldn't start.  I opened the hood of the car to see what was the matter.  The engine was covred in blood and guts from a black cat that had tried sleeping in the radiator belt.  I felt it had someting to do with the Quija board. 

Then I've told the story before about how I used a board in a

I personally believe somewhere along the way, the "Quija" simply named itself.  "Isn't That Right Quija?"  "YES."  "Really?"  "YES!"

Okay, let's move on. 

 

Frank Gaynor's 1953 Dictionary of Mysticism states that primeval boards of different shapes and sizes were used in the sixth century before Christ.  This claim has been hard to trace and I tend to lean more towards the Lewis Spence's 1920 Encyclopedia of Occultism, where he says: "As an invention it is very old.  It was in use in the days of Pythagoras, about 540 B.C.  According to a French historical account of the philosopher's life, his sec held frequent séances or circles at which 'a mystic table moving on wheels, moved towards signs, which the philosopher and his pupil, Philolaus, interpreted to the audience as being revelations from the unseen world.'"

Yes, yet another wonderful thing from Pythagoras.

So there you have it boys and girl straight from the Quija's Planchette.

-- Oh, by the way, that William Fuld guy who made millions off of the Quija board fell off a six-story building to his death kind of freakishly on February 24th, 1927 while supervising a flag-pole replacement on his building.  Not that it matters, but it DOES!

ciao Quija

Moon Talk for Tonight's "Super Moon"

I have written about the different kinds of moons in the past, from the Snow Moon to a Black Moon,  and though all of them can be called "Super" in their own right, tonight is an official "Super Moon," so let's see what is so "Super" about it.  

Firsth, the moon doesn’t orbit Earth in a perfect circle—it follows a stretched, egg-shaped path. That means there are times each month when the moon is a little closer to Earth, a point called perigee, and times when it is farther away, at apogee. At perigee, the moon can be about 356,000 kilometers away, while at apogee it can retreat to more than 406,000 kilometers.

When a full moon coincides with the time of perigee, we get a supermoon—a lunar disk that appears slightly larger and shines more brightly than usual. Compared with the farthest full moon, a supermoon can appear up to 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter. Against an average full moon, the difference is closer to 7 percent larger and 15 percent brighter. To the naked eye, the change may seem subtle, but side-by-side photos reveal just how striking the effect truly is.

Supermoons aren’t rare—we typically see a few each year. At the time I am writing this, October 2025, we will see a streak of three consecutive full moons lining up with perigee. This happens because the timing of perigee slowly drifts relative to the lunar phases, completing a full cycle about every 14 lunar months. Sometimes that cycle means only one full moon is close enough to qualify as “super.” Other times, like now, the alignment is just right to produce a run of three in a row.

Yes, moon gazers, the world is changing, and this year's Super Moon is ushering the greatest change since WW2.  So be sure to gaze up at the sky tonight because this cosmic party will continue into 2026 as January 3 will be next year’s first supermoon, which technically means we are about to witness four back-to-back supermoons.

Is it any wonder so many people are predicting the return of Jesus.  Is it any wonder that it would be an astrologial event to see it in, since many of us believe that Jesus is the story of the Sun itself.

Anyway, here is a refresher on the different names of the moons:

The ”harvest moon“ of October takes its name from the final weeks of the agricultural season in the Northern Hemisphere. Before electricity, farmers relied on its extended light—rising close to sunset for several nights in a row—to gather crops late into the evening.

November’s ”beaver moon“ was noted by Native American communities as the season when beavers prepared for winter by repairing lodges and building dams. It also marked the time when trappers set out before rivers froze, tying the moon to both animal behavior and human industry.

December’s “cold moon“ signals the arrival of long nights and deep winter across the Northern Hemisphere. Rising during the holiday season, it has long been seen as a beacon against the year’s darkest days.

WHAT WILL WE SEE IN THE NIGHT SKY?

The size difference between an ordinary full moon and a sup

November’s ”beaver moon“ was noted by Native American communities as the season when beavers prepared for winter by repairing lodges and building dams. It also marked the time when trappers set out before rivers froze, tying the moon to both animal behavior and human industry.

December’s “cold moon“ signals the arrival of long nights and deep winter across the Northern Hemisphere. Rising during the holiday season, it has long been seen as a beacon against the year’s darkest days.

November’s ”beaver moon“ was noted by Native American communities as the season when beavers prepared for winter by repairing lodges and building dams. It also marked the time when trappers set out before rivers froze, tying the moon to both animal behavior and human industry.

December’s “cold moon“ signals the arrival of long nights and deep winter across the Northern Hemisphere. Rising during the holiday season, it has long been seen as a beacon against the year’s darkest days.

~~ Eso Terry