Ramona (ra-mō´nä).—Title of a romance by Helen Hunt Jackson. Ramona saw the American Indian followed by “civilization” while retreating slowly but surely toward his own extinction, and had herself a share in the tragedy. Ramona is considered the great romance of Indian life.
Random (ran´dom).—Roderick Random, Smollett. A young Scotch scapegrace in quest of fortune. At one time he revels in prosperity, again he is in utter destitution. He roams at random, in keeping with his name.
Rappaccini (rap-ä-chē´nē).—Mosses from an Old Manse, Hawthorne. A doctor in whose garden grew strange plants whose juices and fragrance were poison. His daughter, nourished on these odors, became poisonous herself. Her lover found an antidote which she took, but the poison meant life and the antidote meant death to her.
Rasselas (ras´e-las).—An imaginary romance by Dr. Johnson. According to the custom of his country, Abyssinia, Rasselas was confined in paradise, with the rest of the royal family. This paradise was in the valley of Amhara, surrounded by high mountains. It had only one entrance, a cavern concealed by woods, and closed by iron gates. He escaped with his sister Nekayah and Imlac the poet, and wandered about to find what condition or rank of life was the most happy. After investigation, he found no lot without its drawbacks, and resolved to return to the “Happy Valley.”
Raud the Strong.—Tales of a Wayside Inn, Henry W. Longfellow. The viking who worshiped the old gods and lived by fire and sword. King Olaf went against him, sailing from Drontheim to Salten Fjord.
Raven, The.—A poem by Edgar Allan Poe, published in 1845, which has attained a world-wide popularity. For the author’s account of the mode of its construction, see The Philosophy of Composition, an essay, in the collected edition of his works. The last verse runs:
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 lamplight 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!
Ravenswood.—Bride of Lammermoor, Scott. The lord of Ravenswood, an old Scotch nobleman and a decayed royalist. His son Edgar falls in love with Lucy Ashton, daughter of Sir William Ashton, Lord-Keeper of Scotland. The lovers plight their troth, but Lucy is compelled to marry Frank Hayston, laird of Bucklaw. The bride, in a fit of insanity, attempts to murder the bridegroom and dies. Bucklaw goes abroad. Colonel Ashton, seeing Edgar at the funeral of Lucy, appoints a hostile meeting; and Edgar, on his way to the place appointed, is lost in the quicksands. A prophecy, noted as a curse, hung over the family and was thus fulfilled.
Raymond.—In Jerusalem Delivered, by Tasso. Raymond was known as the Nestor of the crusaders, slew Aladine, the king of Jerusalem, and planted the Christian standard upon the tower of David.