The Raven - Edgar Allan Poe


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Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more.'

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore -
Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
`'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door -
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; -
This it is, and nothing more,'

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
`Sir,' said I, `or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you' - here I opened wide the door; -
Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, `Lenore!'
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, `Lenore!'
Merely this and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
`Surely,' said I, `surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore -
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; -
'Tis the wind and nothing more!'

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore.
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door -
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door -
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
`Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,' I said, `art sure no craven.
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore -
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning - little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door -
Bird or beast above the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as `Nevermore.'

But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only,
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered - not a feather then he fluttered -
Till I scarcely more than muttered `Other friends have flown before -
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.'
Then the bird said, `Nevermore.'

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
`Doubtless,' said I, `what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore -
Till the dirges of his hope that melancholy burden bore
Of "Never-nevermore."'

But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore -
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking `Nevermore.'

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
`Wretch,' I cried, `thy God hath lent thee - by these angels he has sent thee
Respite - respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! -
Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted -
On this home by horror haunted - tell me truly, I implore -
Is there - is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore -
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore -
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels name Lenore?'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!' I shrieked upstarting -
`Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore!


12 comments:

  1. I really like the raven. But the poem was a bit too long.

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    Replies
    1. Well done Robbie! Can you extend your thoughts on this poem.

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  2. This poem was amazing the writer was very clever in this story of how he took the meaning of the words deeper e.g.: While I pondered weak and weary this tells you that he is old and frail rather than saying I was old and week.This was a great choose by making the story scary as it grabbed the reader. It actually makes you feel scared and that was the writers aim. This story you can read once but to get what the reader wants you to get you need to read it more than once and out loud. I thought it was clever how he made it a raven and even better how he explained it because I didn't know what a raven was honestly and how they pretty much meant death. This was amazing poem and I am going to keep looking for Edgar Allan Poe poems.

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  3. This poem was... interesting. It had its pros and cons- one being it was too long for my taste, but overall I think it was a great poem. I liked the way it showed not told. For example:
    "So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
    `'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door -
    Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; -
    This it is, and nothing more,'"
    It is implying that he is scared and to 'still his beating heart' or reassure himself he tells himself someone is just knocking at his door. One of the cons: maybe its just that we don't use them anymore but some of the words I didn't understand which made the poem confusing

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  4. This poem is rather good but it was a little bit to long or my liking and had quite a lot of words which I didn't understand such as, dirges, and some of the verse were a bit hard to understand and i had to read through them a few times before I was able to understand what they were implying.

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  5. This poem has many types of vocabulary such as ''while I pondered weak and weary,
    Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,'' I also enjoyed how it builds the climax up ''Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
    Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
    `Surely,' said I, `surely that is something at my window lattice;
    Let me see then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore -
    Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; -
    'Tis the wind and nothing more!'

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  6. I didn't get the meaning of the lines until Mr Eames told us to look at it closely ...then It started making much more sense.I like how ,if you look at the poem and just read it,you will not get e bit it is talking about.That is what is good about it.
    I found a YouTube clip which will be much easier to understand than just the poem itself:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q32y-0zNUtM
    I like the way the way Edgar set the scene ''Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
    Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
    While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,''that set the scene in a way that wasn't too wordy.Every word counted in that poem.This poem would probably be the most clever poem I have ever read

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  7. I liked how he put feeling in to it like, How sad the persons in the poem must be when he remembers the loss of Lenore.And i liked how you got the reader scared too when it had the raven knocking on the window, it sort of sounded like the raven was coming to visit him.When the raven said "Nevermore" that was like telling him that she is dead and gone forever even though he is always thinking of her.

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  8. I kind of like this poem to be honest it is definitely WAY too long. But the writer uses perfect language for the story that he is trying to tell. Its mysterious and it really pulls you in. But with the length of it, it kind of just drags on for too long. But it is a fab poem, I would be proud if I wrote this.

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  9. I didn't really like this poem because it is very long and didn't really get to the point. A thing I noticed was that you didn't really have to think about it a lot like most other poems. Some of the language was hard to decipher ( As it is old english language ). But never the less a good poem.

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  10. I really liked this poem because it was very descriptive and I like how it was very creepy. I think they could of shortened it because it took awhile to read and got a bit boring at times.

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  11. I like this poem because it had lots of tension and the author used very clever words. It definitely could have been shortened though.

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