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Nevermore -- A Ballad
Alexander "Sasha" Volokh
("The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe
in the style of "Ulalume -- A Ballad"
by Edgar Allan Poe)
O the night it was lonesome and dreary,
And my heart it was weighed down with gloom,
With heavy, unstoppable gloom --
For my body was tired and weary,
Within the confines of this room.
I was brooding then over a fairy,
With a passion that all did consume --
Yes, I thought of Lenore, now a fairy,
Whom a premature death did consume.
I looked at the ghost of the ember,
And I cried out, in spite of my fear:
"To forget, I must never remember!"
I cried out to the skies, "Do you hear?
My prayers are you willing to hear?"
'Twas sufficient to look at the ember,
Which was dying away over here,
To know that the month was December,
That lonesome old time of the year --
But I knew not the month was December
Of my most immemorial year.
In this Morphean time, I was napping,
In front of a volume of lore,
A forgotten old volume of lore --
I was wakened, I think, by a tapping,
Which seemed, as it bounced off the floor,
Like a howling or barking or yapping
On the opposite side of my door,
Like a dog's or hyena's loud yapping
Which was trying to get through my door.
My thoughts proved that I was a craven --
I said, "Sadly this knock I mistrust."
But it proved to be only a Raven
Blown in by an aerial gust:
He entered my room and sought haven
On top of my door, on a bust --
It was just a poor bird seeking haven
Who perched above Pallas' bust.
Then I asked him about his vocation;
Such words from my mouth did outpour --
These phrases did endlessly pour --
"O great bird, what is your appelation?
Why my heart into which you must bore?
Are you here on a winter vacation?
Have you noticed the angel Lenore,
The radiant angel Lenore?"
And he said, with an air of narration,
"Nevermore, nevermore, nevermore!
And I say it again, nevermore!"
Now my heart passed away like an ember,
Because of the excess of gloom,
Of heavy, unstoppable gloom.
Then I knew that it must be December,
When I sat there inside of my room,
Within the confines of my room
(Evil spirit, O why do you loom).
I'll forget, and try not to remember
This impending sensation of doom --
O why must I always remember
This Wagnerian feeling of doom?
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