As early as the age of thirteen, Edgar Allan Poe had written enough poetry to compile a book. In 1820, he returned to Richmond and got accepted by The University of Virginia. There he found himself attracted towards Latin and poetry. His attachment with the university, however, was short-lived as he had to leave on account of financial issues. In Assignation, an unnamed narrator travels in a gondola down the Grand Canal and is startled by a scream. At the edge of the water stands the beautiful Marchesa whose child has fallen into the water. The old Mentoni to whom she is married is only incidentally concerned by the child’s fall into the black waters and resumes the playing of his guitar. Suddenly, a young man approaches and dives into the water, soon re-emerging with the child. The Marchesa says, ‘thou hast conquered—one hour after sunrise—we shall meet—so let it be!’ The narrator offers this man a ride in his gondola and promises to call on him in the morning. At that time he is shown into the man’s abode and spends some time being subjected to the man’s ramblings. Sometime later the man takes a drink of some liquid and collapses, suddenly a page from the Mentoni house burst into the room screaming that the Marchesa is dead. The narrator turns to the man and finds that he’s succumbed to the poison he drank. You can listen online to free English audiobook “Assignation” by Edgar Allan Poe on our website.
