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Literature: The Raven

"The Raven" is a narrative poem of the horror genre published in 1845. Oft parodied and referenced, it is the most famous work by author Edgar Allan Poe, and to this day is one of the most well-known pieces of poetry ever written.

It tells the tale of an unidentified narrator who is mourning the loss of his love, Lenore, when he is interrupted by the tapping of a raven whose constant repetition of the word "Nevermore" increasingly aggravates him to the point of madness.

Team Namer for the Baltimore Ravens football (American) team. Contributes to the existential horror suffered by those they defeat.

This poem provides examples of:

Animated Adaptation: Fleischer Studios made an In Name Only adaptation of the story in 1942.
- The Simpsons first "Treehouse of Horror" special featured a Dramatic Reading of sorts. James Earl Jones narrated while Homer played him on screen. Bart was the Raven.
Arc Words: Quoth the Raven: "Nevermore."
Dark Is Not Evil: The Raven itself is not evil per se, contrary to most media portrayals, just a reminder of the narrator's lost love.
Despair Event Horizon: There really is nothing necessarily supernatural about the raven. The entire poem is about the narrator projecting his own frustrated grief onto a random bird, and losing his mind in the process.
It Was a Dark and Stormy Night: Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary...
It's Probably Nothing: The narrator repeatedly tries to dismiss the noises he hears as only the wind.
The Lost Lenore: Trope Namer.
No Name Given: The narrator.
Nothing Is Scarier
Once Upon a Time: "Once upon a midnight dreary..."
Posthumous Character: Lenore, of course, who is dead before the narrative begins but whose name is uttered quite often throughout.
Ravens and Crows