This famous narrative poem takes place on a bleak December night. A grieving man sits alone among his books, mourning a lost love named Lenore. A tapping at his window brings in a raven, which perches above his door and answers his questions with a single word. As the visitor repeats it, the man's sorrow turns toward obsession. The poem is known for its musical rhythm, its refrain and its gloomy atmosphere, and it made Poe widely famous in his lifetime. It remains one of the best-loved poems in English.
Quotes
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore
Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December
And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."