Quoth the raven, “Say no more!”
“Tell me, raven, what has brought you, how it is that you’ve bethought you
Here to fly in midnight darkness, coming hither to explore.
Hast thou good or evil omen to pronounce to men or women,
Which thou wilt reveal to no men—speak the message, I implore.”
Then he ruffled all his feathers, speaking from the parlour-door,
Said he, “Think the matter o’er.”
There he was with mien so stately, looking solemn and sedately.
Like a monk he was “complately,” thinking something deeply o’er,
All at once his wings he fluttered, and in tone sepulchral muttered