flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore;
Not the least obeisance made he; not an instant stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door -
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door -
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.
Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
„Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,“ I said, „art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore -
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!“
Quoth the raven „Nevermore.“
Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning - little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no sublunary being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door -
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as „Nevermore.“
But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered -- not a feather then he fluttered -
Till I scarcely more than muttered „Other friends have flown before -
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.“
Quoth the raven „Nevermore.“
Wondering at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
„Doubtless,“ said I, „what it utters is its only stock and store
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster
Followed fast and followed faster so when Hope he would adjure -
Stern Despair returned, instead of the sweet Hope he dared adjure -
That sad answer, „Never - nevermore.“
But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore -
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking „Nevermore.“
This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!
Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Angels whose faint foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
„Wretch,“ I cried, „thy God hath lent thee - by these angels he hath sent thee
Respite - respite and nepenthe, from thy memories of Lenore;
Let me quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!“
Quoth the raven „Nevermore.“
„Prophet!“ said I, „thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! -
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted -
On this home by Horror haunted - tell me truly, I implore -
Is there - is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!“
Quoth the raven „Nevermore.“
„Be that word our sign in parting, bird or fiend!“ I shrieked, upstarting -
„Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!“
Quoth the raven „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 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!
1. Version
Traurig saß ich, überwacht, einsam noch um Mitternacht,
Unter alten Folianten, von vergang’nen Zeiten schwer,
Und ich, fast entschlafen, nickte, da ich hörte, wie es pickte,
Pickte wie ein leises Klopfen an der Kammertüre – Wer?
Kömmt besuchend, sprach ich leise, noch in später Nacht daher?
Ein Besuch ist’s und nichts mehr.
Ja, ich weiß genau es noch, war es im Dezember doch,
Feuerschein strömt auf den Boden aus des Ofens Kohlenthor,
Und ich dachte, wär’s doch Morgen, und vergebens wollt’ ich borgen
Von den Büchern and’res Denken, als an das, was ich verlor.
An das Engelskind im Himmel, einstens meine Leonor’.
Ach, ich blieb doch wie zuvor.
Meiner Fenster Purpurkleid rauschte in der Dunkelheit,
Mich erfüllend, mir enthüllend unbekanntes Geisterdräu’n.
Meinen Herzschlag zu bezähmen, sagt ich mir: Du sollst Dich schämen,
Was soll dieses Geistergrauen?