Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore"

Author Edgar Allan Poe died on this day in 1849.

Poe was a poet, critic, and the first master of the short story genre. He is perhaps best known for his mysterious, macabre tales. In addition, some think he penned the first detective fiction with the 1841 publication of "The Murders in the Rue Morgue."

Today we memorialize Poe with a drawing by Claude Buck and a few stanzas from his classic poem, "The Raven," published four years before his death.

The Raven

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door—
Only this, and nothing more."

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
Nameless here for evermore.

Pictured: Claude Buck, 1890–1974, (Edgar Allan Poe), about 1915, pen and ink, ink wash, and charcoal on paper, 9 15/16 x 7 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Claude Buck.