The Raven Illustrated

by Edgar Allan Poe

"The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe is a narrative poem first published in January 1845. It tells of a grief-stricken lover mourning his lost Lenore who receives a midnight visit from a mysterious raven. The bird perches above his door and repeatedly speaks a single haunting word: "Nevermore." As the narrator questions the raven, he descends from amusement to anger and finally into madness, unable to escape the shadow cast by both the bird and his overwhelming grief.