Poe Poem

It’s no surprise that in the land of ten thousand lakes, portaging (carrying your canoe from one lake to the next) is a viable means of transportation. In fact, in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, it’s the ONLY way around, as motorized access is not allowed in the pristine wilderness.

You’ll notice that in the photo above, there are no boats, houses, or people anywhere. It is this solitude that Edgar Allan Poe, yes, the Master of Macabre, wrote about in his poem “The Lake”, of which I’ve included an excerpt:

“In spring of youth it was my lot

To haunt of the wide earth a spot

The which I could not love the less

So lovely was the loneliness

Of a wild lake, with rocky bound

And tall pine trees that tower’d around.”

–Photo by me

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