Page:Edgar Allan Poe - how to know him.djvu/244

 224 EDGAR ALLAN POE �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! �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 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." �"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." ��� �