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.
Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1845), U.S. poet, critic, short-story writer. first published in New York Evening Mirror (Jan. 29, 1845). The Raven, st. 1, The Raven and Other Poems (1845).