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 named Lenore -
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels named 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!
Poe, Edgar Allan, and Ryan Price. The raven. Toronto: KCP Poetry, 2006. Print.
"Scrawled: MOURNFUL CONGREGATION - US Tour Poster." Scrawled. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 May 2012. <http://scrawleddesign.blogspot.ca/2012/04/mournful-congregation-us-tour-poster.html>.
...This mournful poem is a memoir reflection of an old man, who misses his wife, and feels as though the Raven is feeling disgrace towards him.This can connect to the earlier discussed quote "Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted." by Ralph Waldo Emerson. What his message was of not having a self delusion of being disgraced by others, when really you are just having your ideas challenged, can almost suit this poem. The old man lives through each day mourning his lost wife, Lenore. When suddenly, a stately Raven that quotes the mere word "Nevermore" sits upon his door, and gets him to think over and question his life. The Raven's presence in the room helps the old man to both be distraught and find some peace, or in the least, understanding. He freaks out when the Raven refuses to answer his questions, challenging all that he has lived believing, and all he wants is to know where his wife is. The Raven contradicts his existence in the sense that he sets the man free at the same time as he either dies and becomes a ghost, or realizes that he is a ghost. This poem actually relates mostly back to the ancient belief that when one dies, a raven comes to carry off their spirit to the other world. This belief has been around for ages, and this is in reference to why the old man is near pleading with the bird of news of his wife. The conclusion of the Raven not leaving, and his soul in the room symbolizes that he is still dwelling on the loss of his dear Lenore, and that the Raven had not taken his soul onward yet. This is a great example of reflecting on events in one's life, and then the disgrace the old man felt that he was still victim of dwelling on the past...
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