What is 'Eldorado' by Edgar Allan Poe about?

This is the short, but sad, tale of a knight who spent a long time looking for Eldorado. He looked everywhere for it, apparently, but never found it. He got older and older, but still was unable to find anything in the world that even resembled Eldorado. read more

In Edgar Allan Poe's"Eldorado," the knight, as well as the reader, is encouraged to find joy in the journey, because just like the mythical city of gold which shares its name with the poem, dreams often prove to be elusive, like a shadow. read more

"Eldorado" was one of Poe's last poems. As Poe scholar Scott Peeples wrote, the poem is"a fitting close to a discussion of Poe's career." Like the subject of the poem, Poe was on a quest for success or happiness and, despite spending his life searching for it, he eventually loses his strength and faces death. read more