The Raven
Edgar Allan Poe’s greatest work was undoubtedly the poem The Raven, written late in his career in 1845 about a night where the main character is napping in their chamber -which I’m assuming means bedroom- and a raven taps on the door. The story proceeds, and the man and the raven talk, except all the bird says is “Nevermore”
In his work the philosophy of composition, Poe explains his inspiration behind the raven. He says that he was thinking of what was the saddest thing to humans in general, and thought of death.
And then he stated that he tried to find a poetic way to speak of death. He says, when it most closely allies itself to beauty: the death then of a beautiful woman is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world.”
and so, he came out of it with a man mourning his dead mistress and a raven monotonously saying the word 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 lamp-light 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!