Had I not with sudden impulse started, falling by the door,
And discover’d, slowly rising—what is not at all surprising—
That my composites were out, whilst daylight stream’d across the floor,
Then I knew I had been dreaming, but my brain continued teeming
With the vision, and the Surplus that had come from years of yore,
And my thoughts on what that Surplus said whilst there upon my floor
Will be fixèd evermore!
Truth. Christmas Number, 1879.
The Raven.
(A Version, respectfully dedicated to the Duke of Somerset.)