“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil,—­
  Prophet still, if bird or devil!—­
By that heaven that bends above us,
    By that God we both adore,
  Tell this soul with sorrow laden,
  If, within the distant Aidenn,
  It shall clasp a sainted maiden
    Whom the angels name Lenore—­
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden,
    Whom the angels name Lenore.” 
      Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”

  “Be that word our sign of 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’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!

Notes.—­Pallas, or Minerva, in ancient mythology, was the goddess of wisdom.

Plutonian, see note on Pluto, page 242.

Gilead is the name of a mountain group of Palestine, celebrated for its balsam or balm made from herbs.  It is here used figuratively.

Aidenn is an Anglicized and disguised spelling of the Arabic form of the word Eden:  it is here used as a synonym for heaven.

CX.  A VIEW OF THE COLOSSEUM. (389)

Orville Dewey, 1794-1882, a well known Unitarian clergyman and author, was born in Sheffield, Massachusetts, graduated with distinction at Williams College in 1814, and afterward studied theology at Andover.  For a while he was assistant to Dr. W. E. Channing in Boston, and later, was a pastor in New Bedford, New York City, and Boston.  He made two or three voyages to Europe, and published accounts of his travels.

“Discourses on Human Life,” “Discourses on the Nature of Religion,” “Discourses on Commerce and Business,” are among his published works.  His writings are both philosophical and practical; and, as a preacher, he was esteemed original, earnest, and impressive. ###

On the eighth of November, from the high land, about fourteen miles distant, I first saw Rome; and although there is something very unfavorable to impression in the expectation that you are to be greatly impressed, or that you ought to be, or that such is the fashion; yet Rome is too mighty a name to be withstood by such or any other influences.  Let you come upon that hill in what mood you may, the scene will lay hold upon you as with the hand of a giant.  I scarcely