The Search for El Dorado

Eldorado

By Edgar Allan 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!’

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48634/eldorado-56d22a0920778

EQ:

• Is El Dorado a real place?

Engage:

• None

Explore:

• Vocabulary: gaily, bedight, gallant, pilgrim
• Digging for the Truth: The Search for El Dorado
• Eldorado poem by Edgar Allen Poe

Explain:

• How is the El Dorado that Josh Bernstein searches for like Poe's Eldorado?
• How are they different?

Evaluate:

• Draw and color a picture inspired by the poem. Try to include at least one detail from the poem.
• Write a short story about you, the narrator, searching for El Dorado. This story should be at least 350 words long.