As the knight is left weak from his quest, his “strength fails him at length” (13-4), indicating his search for Eldorado ends in failure and leads the knight to his hopeless death. From this failure to find Eldorado, the knight meets a “pilgrim shadow” (15), demonstrating that even in death he is so blinded by his desire for Eldorado that he begs a spirit to feed him faith and guidance. This is hopeless because the pilgrim is a shadow and cannot guide him due to his own failure.

The knight has been actively searching for Eldorado until he turns “Old-“ (7) the knight that was once so “bold-“ (8). The dash after the word old is representing the knight being weak and slow mocking him as the poem slows down as well. The dash after bold is a sarcasm saying the knight is strong but in reality he is not the strong knight from the beginning of the poem, instead he became the opposite of bold. The once bold knight searches for Eldorado until he turns “old” (7). The dash after the word old slows down the poem, representing the knight’s weakness and mocking him. The dash after bold implies a sarcastic pause as the strong knight from the beginning of the poem is now the opposite of bold.

The knight began his journey with determination and hope, it soon disappears when a “shadow” (9) appears over his heart. Unlike the shadow in the first stanza, this shadow is bringing doubt and uncertainty to finding Eldorado because there is not even a single sign of Eldorado throughout his whole journey. This portrays how the knight is not just physically old, but also mentally, feeling hopeless in search for Eldorado. The knight begins his journey with determination and hope, which disappears when a “shadow” (9) appears over his heart. Unlike the shadow in the first stanza, this shadow brings doubt and uncertainty for the knight as he finds not even a single sign of Eldorado throughout his whole journey, portraying how the knight is not just physically old but also feels mentally hopeless in his search for Eldorado.

Over the many years that the knight has passed of searching and traveling, “he grew old –“ (1), “the knight so bold” (2). The knight has shriveled into a great weakness. He was once strong, hopeful, confident and “bold”, but now he has become the opposite. Poe chooses the dashes for the punctuation to emphasize the pause and hesitation of the tone of these first two lines. The dashes demonstrate the he is moving into failure, and that this change was unexpected, which is why it is an interruption. The knight does not think he is going to fail, he thinks he is going to find Eldorado. Over the years of searching, the “bold” knight “grew old”. The knight begins his journey strong, hopeful, and confident, but now grows weak. The dashes emphasize the knight’s pause and hesitation at the his transition, demonstrating the difficulty and regret of his unexpected failure.