January 29th 1845: ‘The Raven’ by Edgar Allan Poe is published
On this day in 1845, the narrative poem ‘The Raven’ by American writer Edgar Allan Poe was published in the New York Evening Mirror. The poem made Poe popular and famous. It tells the mysterious tale of a talking raven visiting a distraught lover and tracing his descent into madness. The raven perches on a bust of Pallas and distresses the man by repeating the word “Nevermore”.
The last lines are as follows:
“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!”
(read the full poem here)
