ENG 510 Chapter Full Text: 11. The Raven
Document Summary
Narrator: a man consumed by grief for his dead wife to the point of potential madness. The raven: a bird that speaks only the word nevermore (if he is real, and not a figment of the narrator"s imagination) The narrator sits alone, reading, half-asleep, to take his mind off his dead wife, Lenore, when he hears a knocking at his chamber door. He goes to open the door, apologizing for taking so long, but no one is there. The narrator, filled with fear, whispers his wife"s name questioningly. He turns back into his room when he hears a knocking at his window. He opens the window and in enters a raven, who sits upon the bust of pallas athena. The narrator asks the bird for its name and it says nevermore. The narrator is amused by the bird, but says that the bird will eventually leave him, as most friends have before, but the raven answers, nevermore.
