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diff --git a/old/55749-0.txt b/old/55749-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 0df6c22..0000000 --- a/old/55749-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1181 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Raven and The Philosophy of Composition, by -Edgar Allan Poe - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Raven and The Philosophy of Composition - -Author: Edgar Allan Poe - -Illustrator: Galen J. Perrett - -Release Date: October 14, 2017 [EBook #55749] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RAVEN, PHILOSOPHY OF COMPOSITION *** - - - - -Produced by Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - The Raven - and - The Philosophy of Composition - -[Illustration] - - -[Illustration: - - _Copyright 1906 by The Harwell-Evans Co._ - - _Lenore_ -] - -[Illustration] - - - - - The Raven - and - The Philosophy of Composition - - - By - Edgar Allan Poe - - Quarto Photogravure Edition - Illustrated from Paintings by Galen J. Perrett - The Decorations by Will Jenkins - -[Illustration] - - Paul Elder and Company - San Francisco and New York - - - - - Contents - - - Foreword - The Philosophy of Composition - The Raven - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - Foreword - - -The initial intention of the publishers to present “The Raven” without -preface, notes, or other extraneous matter that might detract from an -undivided appreciation of the poem, has been somewhat modified by the -introduction of Poe’s prose essay, “The Philosophy of Composition.” If -any justification were necessary, it is to be found both in the unique -literary interest of the essay, and in the fact that it is (or purports -to be) a frank exposition of the modus operandi by which “The Raven” was -written. It is felt that no other introduction could be more happily -conceived or executed. Coming from Poe’s own hand, it directly avoids -the charge of presumption; and written in Poe’s most felicitous style, -it entirely escapes the defect—not uncommon in analytical treatises—of -pedantry. - -It is indeed possible, as some critics assert, that this supposed -analysis is purely fictitious. If so, it becomes all the more -distinctive as a marvelous bit of imaginative writing, and as such ranks -equally with that wild snatch of melody, “The Raven.” But these same -critics would lead us further to believe that “The Raven” itself is -almost a literal translation of the work of a Persian poet. If they be -again correct, Poe’s genius as seen in the creation of “The Philosophy -of Composition” is far more startling than it has otherwise appeared; -and “robbed of his bay leaves in the realm of poetry,” he is to be -“crowned with a double wreath of berried holly for his prose.” - - - - - The Philosophy of Composition. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - - The Philosophy of Composition - - -Charles Dickens, in a note now lying before me, alluding to an -examination I once made of the mechanism of “Barnaby Rudge,” says—“By -the way, are you aware that Godwin wrote his ‘Caleb Williams’ backwards? -He first involved his hero in a web of difficulties, forming the second -volume, and then, for the first, cast about him for some mode of -accounting for what had been done.” - -I cannot think this the precise mode of procedure on the part of -Godwin—and indeed what he himself acknowledges, is not altogether in -accordance with Mr. Dickens’ idea—but the author of “Caleb Williams” was -too good an artist not to perceive the advantage derivable from at least -a somewhat similar process. Nothing is more clear than that every plot, -worth the name, must be elaborated to its dénouement before anything be -attempted with the pen. It is only with the dénouement constantly in -view that we can give a plot its indispensable air of consequence, or -causation, by making the incidents, and especially the tone at all -points, tend to the development of the intention. - -There is a radical error, I think, in the usual mode of constructing a -story. Either history affords a thesis—or one is suggested by an -incident of the day—or, at best, the author sets himself to work in the -combination of striking events to form merely the basis of his -narrative—designing, generally, to fill in with description, dialogue, -or autorial comment, whatever crevices of fact, or action, may, from -page to page, render themselves apparent. - -I prefer commencing with the consideration of an effect. Keeping -originality always in view—for he is false to himself who ventures to -dispense with so obvious and so easily attainable a source of interest—I -say to myself, in the first place, “Of the innumerable effects, or -impressions, of which the heart, the intellect, or (more generally) the -soul is susceptible, what one shall I, on the present occasion, select?” -Having chosen a novel, first, and secondly a vivid effect, I consider -whether it can be best wrought by incident or tone—whether by ordinary -incidents and peculiar tone, or the converse, or by peculiarity both of -incident and tone—afterward looking about me (or rather within) for such -combinations of event, or tone, as shall best aid me in the construction -of the effect. - -I have often thought how interesting a magazine paper might be written -by any author who would—that is to say who could—detail, step by step, -the processes by which any one of his compositions attained its ultimate -point of completion. Why such a paper has never been given to the world, -I am much at a loss to say—but, perhaps, the autorial vanity has had -more to do with the omission than any one other cause. Most -writers—poets in especial—prefer having it understood that they compose -by a species of fine phrenzy—an ecstatic intuition—and would positively -shudder at letting the public take a peep behind the scenes, at the -elaborate and vacillating crudities of thought—at the true purposes -seized only at the last moment—at the innumerable glimpses of idea that -arrived not at the maturity of full view—at the fully matured fancies -discarded in despair as unmanageable—at the cautious selections and -rejections—at the painful erasures and interpolations—in a word, at the -wheels and pinions—the tackle for scene-shifting—the stepladders and -demon-traps—the cock’s feathers, the red paint and the black patches, -which, in ninety-nine cases out of the hundred, constitute the -properties of the literary histrio. - -I am aware, on the other hand, that the case is by no means common, in -which an author is at all in condition to retrace the steps by which his -conclusions have been attained. In general, suggestions, having arisen -pell-mell, are pursued and forgotten in a similar manner. - -For my own part, I have neither sympathy with the repugnance alluded to, -nor at any time the least difficulty in recalling to mind the -progressive steps of any of my compositions; and, since the interest of -an analysis, or reconstruction, such as I have considered a desideratum, -is quite independent of any real or fancied interest in the thing -analyzed, it will not be regarded as a breach of decorum on my part to -show the modus operandi by which some one of my own works was put -together. I select “The Raven,” as most generally known. It is my design -to render it manifest that no one point in its composition is referable -either to accident or intuition—that the work proceeded, step by step, -to its completion with the precision and rigid consequence of a -mathematical problem. - -Let us dismiss, as irrelevant to the poem, per se, the circumstance—or -say the necessity—which, in, the first place, gave rise to the intention -of composing a poem that should suit at once the popular and the -critical taste. - -We commence, then, with this intention. - -The initial consideration was that of extent. If any literary work is -too long to be read at one sitting, we must be content to dispense with -the immensely important effect derivable from unity of impression—for, -if two sittings be required, the affairs of the world interfere, and -everything like totality is at once destroyed. But since, ceteris -paribus, no poet can afford to dispense with anything that may advance -his design, it but remains to be seen whether there is, in extent, any -advantage to counterbalance the loss of unity which attends it. Here I -say No, at once. What we term a long poem is, in fact, merely a -succession of brief ones—that is to say, of brief poetical effects. It -is needless to demonstrate that a poem is such, only inasmuch as it -intensely excites, by elevating, the soul; and all intense excitements -are, through a psychal necessity, brief. For this reason, at least -one-half of the “Paradise Lost” is essentially prose—a succession of -poetical excitements interspersed, inevitably, with corresponding -depressions—the whole being deprived, through the extremeness of its -length, of the vastly important artistic element, totality, or unity, of -effect. - -It appears evident, then, that there is a distinct limit, as regards -length, to all works of literary art—the limit of a single sitting—and -that, although in certain classes of prose composition, such as -“Robinson Crusoe” (demanding no unity), this limit may be advantageously -overpassed, it can never properly be overpassed in a poem. Within this -limit, the extent of a poem may be made to bear mathematical relation to -its merit—in other words, to the excitement or elevation—again, in other -words, to the degree of the true poetical effect which it is capable of -inducing; for it is clear that the brevity must be in direct ratio to -the intensity of the intended effect:—this, with one proviso—that a -certain degree of duration is absolutely requisite for the production of -any effect at all. - -Holding in view these considerations, as well as that degree of -excitement which I deemed not above the popular, while not below the -critical, taste, I reached at once what I conceived the proper length -for my intended poem—a length of about one hundred lines. It is, in -fact, a hundred and eight. - -My next thought concerned the choice of an impression, or effect, to be -conveyed; and here I may as well observe that, throughout the -construction, I kept steadily in view the design of rendering the work -universally appreciable. I should be carried too far out of my immediate -topic were I to demonstrate a point upon which I have repeatedly -insisted, and which, with the poetical, stands not in the slightest need -of demonstration—the point, I mean, that Beauty is the sole legitimate -province of the poem. A few words, however, in elucidation of my real -meaning, which some of my friends have evinced a disposition to -misrepresent. That pleasure which is at once the most intense, the most -elevating, and the most pure, is, I believe, found in the contemplation -of the beautiful. When, indeed, men speak of Beauty, they mean, -precisely, not a quality, as is supposed, but an effect; they refer, in -short, just to that intense and pure elevation of soul—not of intellect, -or of heart—upon which I have commented, and which is experienced in -consequence of contemplating “the beautiful.” Now I designate Beauty as -the province of the poem, merely because it is an obvious rule of Art -that effects should be made to spring from direct causes—that objects -should be attained through means best adapted for their attainment—no -one as yet having been weak enough to deny that the peculiar elevation -alluded to is most readily attained in the poem. Now the object, Truth, -or the satisfaction of the intellect, and the object, Passion, or the -excitement of the heart, are, although attainable, to a certain extent, -in poetry, far more readily attainable in prose. Truth, in fact, demands -a precision, and Passion a homeliness (the truly passionate will -comprehend me) which are absolutely antagonistic to that Beauty which, I -maintain, is the excitement, or pleasurable elevation, of the soul. It -by no means follows from anything here said, that Passion, or even -Truth, may not be introduced, and even profitably introduced, into a -poem—for they may serve in elucidation, or aid the general effect, as do -discords in music, by contrast—but the true artist will always contrive, -first, to tone them into proper subservience to the predominant aim, -and, secondly, to enveil them, as far as possible, in that Beauty which -is the atmosphere and the essence of the poem. - -Regarding, then, Beauty as my province, my next question referred to the -tone of its highest manifestation—and all experience has shown that this -tone is one of sadness. Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme -development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears. Melancholy -is thus the most legitimate of all the poetical tones. - -The length, the province, and the tone, being thus determined, I betook -myself to ordinary induction, with the view of obtaining some artistic -piquancy which might serve me as a keynote in the construction of the -poem—some pivot upon which the whole structure might turn. In carefully -thinking over all the usual artistic effects—or more properly points, in -the theatrical sense—I did not fail to perceive immediately that no one -had been so universally employed as that of the refrain. The -universality of its employment sufficed to assure me of its intrinsic -value, and spared me the necessity of submitting it to analysis. I -considered it, however, with regard to its susceptibility of -improvement, and soon saw it to be in a primitive condition. As commonly -used, the refrain, or burden, not only is limited to lyric verse, but -depends for its impression upon the force of monotone—both in sound and -thought. The pleasure is deduced solely from the sense of identity—of -repetition. I resolved to diversify, and so heighten, the effect, by -adhering, in general, to the monotone of sound, while I continually -varied that of thought: that is to say, I determined to produce -continuously novel effects, by the variation of the application of the -refrain—the refrain itself remaining, for the most part, unvaried. - -These points being settled, I next bethought me of the nature of my -refrain. Since its application was to be repeatedly varied, it was clear -that the refrain itself must be brief, for there would have been an -insurmountable difficulty in frequent variations of application in any -sentence of length. In proportion to the brevity of the sentence, would, -of course, be the facility of the variation. This led me at once to a -single word as the best refrain. - -The question now arose as to the character of the word. - -Having made up my mind to a refrain, the division of the poem into -stanzas was, of course, a corollary, the refrain forming the close of -each stanza. That such a close, to have force, must be sonorous and -susceptible of protracted emphasis, admitted no doubt; and these -considerations inevitably led me to the long “o” as the most sonorous -vowel, in connection with “r” as the most producible consonant. - -The sound of the refrain being thus determined, it became necessary to -select a word embodying this sound, and at the same time in the fullest -possible keeping with that melancholy which I had predetermined as the -tone of the poem. In such a search it would have been absolutely -impossible to overlook the word “Nevermore.” In fact, it was the very -first which presented itself. - -The next desideratum was a pretext for the continuous use of the one -word “Nevermore.” In observing the difficulty which I at once found in -inventing a sufficiently plausible reason for its continuous repetition, -I did not fail to perceive that this difficulty arose solely from the -pre-assumption that the word was to be so continuously or monotonously -spoken by a human being—I did not fail to perceive, in short, that the -difficulty lay in the reconciliation of this monotony with the exercise -of reason on the part of the creature repeating the word. Here, then, -immediately arose the idea of a non-reasoning creature capable of -speech; and, very naturally, a parrot, in the first instance, suggested -itself, but was superseded forthwith by a Raven, as equally capable of -speech, and infinitely more in keeping with the intended tone. - -[Illustration] - -I had now gone so far as the conception of a Raven—the bird of ill -omen—monotonously repeating the one word, “Nevermore,” at the conclusion -of each stanza, in a poem of melancholy tone, and in length about one -hundred lines. Now, never losing sight of the object supremeness, or -perfection, at all points, I asked myself—“Of all melancholy topics, -what, according to the universal understanding of mankind, is the most -melancholy?” Death—was the obvious reply. “And when,” I said, “is this -most melancholy of topics most poetical?” From what I have already -explained at some length, the answer, here also, is obvious—“When it -most closely allies itself to Beauty: the death, then, of a beautiful -woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world—and -equally is it beyond doubt that the lips best suited for such topic are -those of a bereaved lover.” - -I had now to combine the two ideas, of a lover lamenting his deceased -mistress and a Raven continuously repeating the word “Nevermore.” I had -to combine these, bearing in mind my design of varying, at every turn, -the application of the word repeated; but the only intelligible mode of -such combination is that of imagining the Raven employing the word in -answer to the queries of the lover. And here it was that I saw at once -the opportunity afforded for the effect on which I had been -depending—that is to say, the effect of the variation of application. I -saw that I could make the first query propounded by the lover—the first -query to which the Raven should reply “Nevermore”—that I could make this -first query a commonplace one—the second less so—the third still less, -and so on, until at length the lover—startled from his original -nonchalance by the melancholy character of the word itself, by its -frequent repetition, and by a consideration of the ominous reputation of -the fowl that uttered it—is at length excited to superstition, and -wildly propounds queries of a far different character—queries whose -solution he has passionately at heart—propounds them half in -superstition and half in that species of despair which delights in -self-torture—propounds them not altogether because he believes in the -prophetic or demoniac character of the bird (which, reason assures him, -is merely repeating a lesson learned by rote) but because he experiences -a phrenzied pleasure in so modeling his questions as to receive from the -expected “Nevermore,” the most delicious because the most intolerable of -sorrow. Perceiving the opportunity thus afforded me—or, more strictly, -thus forced upon me in the progress of the construction—I first -established in mind the climax, or concluding query—that query to which -“Nevermore” should be in the last place an answer—that in reply to which -this word “Nevermore” should involve the utmost conceivable amount of -sorrow and despair. - -Here, then, the poem may be said to have its beginning—at the end, where -all works of art should begin—for it was here, at this point of my -pre-considerations, that I first put pen to paper in the composition of -the stanza: - - “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.” - -I composed this stanza, at this point, first that, by establishing the -climax, I might the better vary and graduate, as regards seriousness and -importance, the preceding queries of the lover; and, secondly, that I -might definitely settle the rhythm, the meter, and the length and -general arrangement of the stanza, as well as graduate the stanzas which -were to precede, so that none of them might surpass this in rhythmical -effect. Had I been able, in the subsequent composition, to construct -more vigorous stanzas, I should, without scruple, have purposely -enfeebled them, so as not to interfere with the climacteric effect. - -And here I may as well say a few words of the versification. My first -object (as usual) was originality. The extent to which this has been -neglected, in versification, is one of the most unaccountable things in -the world. Admitting that there is little possibility of variety in mere -rhythm, it is still clear that the possible varieties of meter and -stanza are absolutely infinite—and yet, for centuries, no man, in verse, -has ever done, or ever seemed to think of doing, an original thing. The -fact is, that originality (unless in minds of very unusual force) is by -no means a matter, as some suppose, of impulse or intuition. In general, -to be found, it must be elaborately sought, and although a positive -merit of the highest class, demands in its attainment less of invention -than negation. - -Of course, I pretend to no originality in either the rhythm or meter of -“The Raven.” The former is trochaic—the latter is octameter acatalectic, -alternating with heptameter catalectic repeated in the refrain of the -fifth verse, and terminating with tetrameter catalectic. Less -pedantically—the feet employed throughout (trochees) consist of a long -syllable followed by a short: the first line of the stanza consists of -eight of these feet—the second of seven and a half (in effect -two-thirds)—the third of eight—the fourth of seven and a half—the fifth -the same—the sixth, three and a half. Now, each of these lines, taken -individually, has been employed before, and what originality “The Raven” -has, is in their combination into stanza: nothing even remotely -approaching this combination has ever been attempted. The effect of this -originality of combination is aided by other unusual and some altogether -novel effects, arising from an extension of the application of the -principles of rhyme and alliteration. - -The next point to be considered was the mode of bringing together the -lover and the Raven—and the first branch of this consideration was the -locale. For this the most natural suggestion might seem to be a forest, -or the fields—but it has always appeared to me that a close -circumscription of space is absolutely necessary to the effect of -insulated incident: it has the force of a frame to a picture. It has an -indisputable moral power in keeping concentrated the attention, and, of -course, must not be confounded with mere unity of place. - -I determined, then, to place the lover in his chamber—in a chamber -rendered sacred to him by memories of her who had frequented it. The -room is represented as richly furnished—this, in mere pursuance of the -ideas I have already explained on the subject of beauty as the sole true -poetical thesis. - -The locale being thus determined, I had now to introduce the bird—and -the thought of introducing him through the window was inevitable. The -idea of making the lover suppose, in the first instance, that the -flapping of the wings of the bird against the shutter is a “tapping” at -the door, originated in a wish to increase, by prolonging, the reader’s -curiosity, and in a desire to admit the incidental effect arising from -the lover’s throwing open the door, finding all dark, and thence -adopting the half-fancy that it was the spirit of his mistress that -knocked. - -I made the night tempestuous, first, to account for the Raven’s seeking -admission, and, secondly, for the effect of contrast with the (physical) -serenity within the chamber. - -I made the bird alight on the bust of Pallas, also for the effect of -contrast between the marble and the plumage—it being understood that the -bust was absolutely suggested by the bird—the bust of Pallas being -chosen, first, as most in keeping with the scholarship of the lover, -and, secondly, for the sonorousness of the word, Pallas, itself. - -About the middle of the poem, also, I have availed myself of the force -of contrast, with a view of deepening the ultimate impression. For -example, an air of the fantastic—approaching as nearly to the ludicrous -as was admissible—is given to the Raven’s entrance. He comes in “with -many a flirt and flutter.” - - 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. - -In the two stanzas which follow, the design is more obviously carried -out: - - 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 bear 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 upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door, - With such name as “Nevermore.” - -The effect of the dénouement being thus provided for, I immediately drop -the fantastic for a tone of the most profound seriousness—this tone -commencing in the stanza directly following the one last quoted, with -the line: - - But the Raven, sitting lonely on that placid bust, spoke only, etc. - -From this epoch the lover no longer jests—no longer sees anything even -of the fantastic in the Raven’s demeanour. He speaks of him as a “grim, -ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore,” and feels the -“fiery eyes” burning into his “bosom’s core.” This revolution of -thought, or fancy, on the lover’s part, is intended to induce a similar -one on the part of the reader—to bring the mind into a proper frame for -the dénouement—which is now brought about as rapidly and as directly as -possible. - -With the dénouement proper—with the Raven’s reply, “Nevermore,” to the -lover’s final demand if he shall meet his mistress in another world—the -poem, in its obvious phase, that of a simple narrative, may be said to -have its completion. So far, everything is within the limits of the -accountable—of the real. A Raven, having learned by rote the single -word, “Nevermore,” and having escaped from the custody of its owner, is -driven at midnight, through the violence of a storm, to seek admission -at a window from which a light still gleams,—the chamber-window of a -student, occupied half in poring over a volume, half in dreaming of a -beloved mistress deceased. The casement being thrown open at the -fluttering of the bird’s wings, the bird itself perches on the most -convenient seat out of the immediate reach of the student, who, amused -by the incident and the oddity of the visitor’s demeanour, demands of -it, in jest and without looking for a reply, its name. The Raven, -addressed, answers with its customary word, “Nevermore,” a word which -finds immediate echo in the melancholy heart of the student, who, giving -utterance aloud to certain thoughts suggested by the occasion, is again -startled by the fowl’s repetition of “Nevermore.” The student now -guesses the state of the case, but is impelled, as I have before -explained, by the human thirst for self-torture, and in part by -superstition, to propound such queries to the bird as will bring him, -the lover, the most of the luxury of sorrow, through the anticipated -answer, “Nevermore.” With the indulgence, to the extreme, of this -self-torture, the narration, in what I have termed its first or obvious -phase, has a natural termination, and so far there has been no -overstepping of the limits of the real. - -But in subjects so handled, however skilfully, or with however vivid an -array of incident, there is always a certain hardness or nakedness which -repels the artistical eye. Two things are invariably required: first, -some amount of complexity, or, more properly, adaptation; and, secondly, -some amount of suggestiveness—some under-current, however indefinite, of -meaning. It is this latter, in especial, which imparts to a work of art -so much of that richness (to borrow from colloquy a forcible term) which -we are too fond of confounding with the ideal. It is the excess of the -suggested meaning—it is the rendering this the upper- instead of the -under-current of the theme—which turns into prose (and that of the very -flattest kind) the so-called poetry of the so-called transcendentalists. - -Holding these opinions, I added the two concluding stanzas of the -poem—their suggestiveness being thus made to pervade all the narrative -which has preceded them. The under-current of meaning is rendered first -apparent in the lines: - - “Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!” - Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.” - -It will be observed that the words, “from out my heart,” involve the -first metaphorical expression in the poem. They, with the answer, -“Nevermore,” dispose the mind to seek a moral in all that has been -previously narrated. The reader begins now to regard the Raven as -emblematical—but it is not until the very last line of the very last -stanza, that the intention of making him emblematical of Mournful and -Never-ending Remembrance is permitted distinctly to be seen: - - 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! - -[Illustration: _Fordham Cottage_] - - - - - The Raven - -[Illustration] - - -[Illustration] - - 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.” - -[Illustration] - - 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. - -[Illustration: _Copyright 1906 by The Harwell-Evans Co._] - -[Illustration] - - 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.” - -[Illustration] - - 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. - -[Illustration: _Copyright 1906 by The Harwell-Evans Co._] - -[Illustration] - - 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 stillness 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. - -[Illustration] - - 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.” - -[Illustration: _Copyright 1906 by The Harwell-Evans Co._] - -[Illustration] - - 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. - -[Illustration] - - 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.” - -[Illustration: _Copyright 1906 by The Harwell-Evans Co._] - -[Illustration] - - 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 upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door, - With such name as “Nevermore.” - -[Illustration] - - 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.” - -[Illustration: _Copyright 1906 by The Harwell-Evans Co._] - -[Illustration] - - 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.’” - -[Illustration] - - 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.” - -[Illustration: _Copyright 1906 by The Harwell-Evans Co._] - -[Illustration] - - 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! - -[Illustration] - - 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 hath 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.” - -[Illustration: _Copyright 1906 by The Harwell-Evans Co._] - -[Illustration] - - “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.” - -[Illustration] - - “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.” - -[Illustration: _Copyright 1906 by The Harwell-Evans Co._] - -[Illustration] - - “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.” - -[Illustration] - - 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! - -[Illustration: _Copyright 1906 by The Harwell-Evans Co._] - - - Here ends The Raven, a poem, and The Philosophy of Composition, - a prose essay; the poem and the essay by Edgar Allan Poe, the - photogravure illustrations from paintings by Galen J. Perrett, - the initials and decorations by Will Jenkins, the typography - designed by J. H. Nash. Of this first Quarto Photogravure - Edition one thousand copies have been issued, printed on Arches - handmade paper. Published by Paul Elder and Company and done - into a book for them at the Tomoye Press, New York City. - Finished this Tenth Day of July, in the year Nineteen Hundred - and Seven. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES - - - 1. Added Table of Contents. - 2. The punctuation for some lines in The Raven differs from other - published versions, i.e., “!” instead of “?” or “.” instead of - “!”. - 3. Silently corrected typographical errors. - 4. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed. - 5. 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