Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spo ken, "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 !"" But the Raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smi ling, Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust, and door : Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to link ing 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.' 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 lamplight gloated o'er, But whose velvet violet lining with the lamplight 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 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.” "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 enchantedOn this home by Horror haunted-tell me truly, I imploreIs 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 name LENORE Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name 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 lamplight 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! ANNABEL LEE. T was many and many a year ago, IT In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden lived, whom you may know By the name of Annabel Lee; And this maiden she lived with no other thought I was a child and she was a child, In this kingdom by the sea; But we loved with a love that was more than love, With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven And this was the reason that, long ago, To shut her up in a sepulchre In this kingdom by the sea. The angels, not so happy in heaven, Yes! that was the reason (as all men know), In this kingdom by the sea, That the wind came out of the cloud by night, But our love it was stronger by far than the love For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful ANNABEL LEE; And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes Of the beautiful ANNABEL Lee. And so, all the night-tide I lie down by the side THE BELLS. 1. EAR the sledges with the bells— HEAR Silver bells! What a world of merriment their melody foretells! How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells Bells, bells, bells From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells. II. Hear the mellow wedding bells— What a world of happiness their harmony foretells! Through the balmy air of night How they ring out their delight! |