 | Pot-Pourri |  |
20
RAVING
Once upon a midnight, weary,
As I maunder'd, gin-and-beery,
O'er an' oft repeated story
Till my friends thought me a bore,—
Sitting weeping, and half sleeping,
Something set my flesh a-creeping,
And I saw a Raven peeping
Through my room's unopen'd door.
See that Raven! said I to them,—
Trying to get through the door,—
A black Raven—nothing more.
As I maunder'd, gin-and-beery,
O'er an' oft repeated story
Till my friends thought me a bore,—
Sitting weeping, and half sleeping,
Something set my flesh a-creeping,
And I saw a Raven peeping
Through my room's unopen'd door.
See that Raven! said I to them,—
Trying to get through the door,—
A black Raven—nothing more.
Now I was not drunk, but weary,
For my head was out-of-geary
With close study of quaint volumes
Curious in forgotten lore:
(Though they said Delirium tremens)
I'd been reading bits of Hemans,
And some leaves of Jacob Behmen's,
Two or three—perhaps a score:
And I said—It is a Raven
Rampant just outside the door,—
Striding through—I said—and swore.
For my head was out-of-geary
With close study of quaint volumes
Curious in forgotten lore:
(Though they said Delirium tremens)
I'd been reading bits of Hemans,
And some leaves of Jacob Behmen's,
Two or three—perhaps a score:
And I said—It is a Raven
Rampant just outside the door,—
Striding through—I said—and swore.
I insisted, and I twisted
And resisted, and persisted
Though they held me and, close-fisted,
Saw no Raven at the door;
I forgot all I had read of,—
For that ill bird took my head off,
Like a coffin lid of lead off
The dead brain of one no more.
Would I trust their words instead of
What I saw right through the door?
Through the door—I said—and swore.
And resisted, and persisted
Though they held me and, close-fisted,
Saw no Raven at the door;
I forgot all I had read of,—
For that ill bird took my head off,
21
The dead brain of one no more.
Would I trust their words instead of
What I saw right through the door?
Through the door—I said—and swore.
Yes! it is a Raven surely,
Though he does look so demurely
Like a doctor come to assure me
I am drunk: not so—I swore,
Drunk? I drunk? I've not been drinking;
I'm but overcome with thinking:
There I saw that Raven winking
In the middle of the floor.
Doctor! there's the Raven rampant
In the middle of the floor:
He has hopp'd straight through the door.
Though he does look so demurely
Like a doctor come to assure me
I am drunk: not so—I swore,
Drunk? I drunk? I've not been drinking;
I'm but overcome with thinking:
There I saw that Raven winking
In the middle of the floor.
Doctor! there's the Raven rampant
In the middle of the floor:
He has hopp'd straight through the door.
Look! his curst wings brush the dust off
That fallen, broken, batter'd bust of
Psyche,—where it lies in the shadow,
Shatter'd, flung down on the floor.
See! he spurns the broken pieces.
Catch him, Doctor!—when he ceases
He will rend me. Past release is—
Nothing! Nothing on the floor?—
Yes! the Psyche lies in the shadow,
Lieth shatter'd on the floor:
To be lifted nevermore.
That fallen, broken, batter'd bust of
Psyche,—where it lies in the shadow,
Shatter'd, flung down on the floor.
See! he spurns the broken pieces.
Catch him, Doctor!—when he ceases
He will rend me. Past release is—
Nothing! Nothing on the floor?—
Yes! the Psyche lies in the shadow,
Lieth shatter'd on the floor:
To be lifted nevermore.
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