ENGL.2820: American Literary Traditions

There is a magic made by melody:
A spell of rest, and quiet breath, and cool
Heart, that sinks through fading colors deep
To the subaqueous stillness of the sea,
And floats forever in a moon-green pool,
Held in the arms of rhythm and of sleep.

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."

Listen to a reading of "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe:

• More readings from the work of Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Complete texts of the writing of Ralph Waldo Emerson