I dwelt alone
In a world of moan,
And my soul was a stagnant tide,
Till the fair and gentle Eulalie became my blushing bride—
Till the yellow-haired young Eulalie became my smiling bride.
Ah, less, less bright
This is an oxymoron; “stagnant” is used to describe very still water with no flow, or a dull and lazy human. In other words, a tide cannot be described as stagnant, unless your soul is really at the point of defeat Poe’s is: confused and uncertain.
Eulalie