The Canon
Illustrated cover for The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

Poem · 1845

The Raven

Edgar Allan Poe

Aya Saleh · Ink & Ivy

Poem · 1845 · American · Romantic

The Raven

Edgar Allan Poe

A bereaved scholar questions a bird that answers only 'Nevermore'.

Narrative poemGothicGriefMemoryDespairLost love

Read the book

English reading edition

Full Project Gutenberg text, newly typeset—not a publisher scan. Public-domain status varies by country; check local laws. The source license is included.

Edition and source

How to read it

The poem is a machine for making grief worse: the narrator asks questions whose single possible answer he already knows, because pain prefers confirmation to comfort.

Whole-work summary

A bereaved scholar questions a bird that answers only 'Nevermore'.

Where to read & what to read about it

More by Edgar Allan Poe