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[page 2, column 3, continued:]
THE ORIGIN OF POE'S RAVEN. — It is probable, says the Athenæum, that the first suggestion of “The Raven” came from two poems by Mr. Tennyson, published in The Gem for 1831, and included, we believe, in no collection of the poet's works. The first poem is entitled “No More,” and seems worthy, in all respects, of preservation.
Oh sad No More! Oh sweet No More!
O strange No More!
By a mossed brookbank on a atone
I smelt a wildweed-flower lone;
There was a ringing in my ears,
And both my eyes gushed out with tears.
Surely all pleasant things had gone before,
Low buried fathom deep beneath with thee, NO MORE!
The second poem is decidedly inferior, and contains a Cockney rhyme of a sufficiently prominent character. It is entitled “Anacreontic:”
With roses musky breathed,
And drooping daffodilly,
And silver-leaved lily,
And ivy darkly-wreathed
I wove a crown before her
For her I love so dearly,
A garland for Lenora,
With a silken cord I bound it,
Lenora, laughing clearly
A light and thrilling laughter,
About hor forehead wound it,
And loved me ever after,
It is not suggested that Poe took from these verses more than the name Lenora or Lenore, and the burden “Never More.” The connection of the two in “The Raven” renders all but certain that the author had come across the book in which the poems appear.
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Notes:
None.
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[S:0 - HJ, 1875] - Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - A Poe Bookshelf - Origin of Poe's Raven (Anonymous, 1875)