"Death and the Lady"

"Death and the Lady" is the title of an old English folk ballad by J. Deacon between 1683 and 1700, which was published in 1906 by "City People", a British newspaper. It was the basis for a vaudeville show Ziegfeld Follies-inspired "Grand Guignol", showing card games and alcohol. Photos of Joseph Hall, a photographer from Brooklyn, also famous for his photographs of theater and sports. You can also read the ballad HERE with more photos of the Ziegfeld's show by Joseph Hall.

DEATH
'Fair Lady, throw those costly robes aside,
No longer may you glory in your pride;
Take leave of all your carnal vain delight,
I'm come to summon you away this night.'

LADY
'What bold attempt is this? Pray let me know
From whence you come, and whither I must go.
Shall I, who am a lady, stoop or bow
To such a pale-faced visage? Who art thou?'

DEATH
'Do you not know me? I will tell you then:
I am he that conquers all the sons of men,
No pitch of honour from my dart is free,
My name is Death! Have you not heard of me?'

LADY
'Yes; I have heard of thee, time after time;
But, being in the glory of my prime,
I did not think you would have come so soon;
Why must my morning sun go down at noon?'

DEATH
'Talk not of noon! you may as well be mute;
There is no time at all for vain dispute,
Your riches, gold, and garments,jewels bright,
Your house, and land, must on new owners light.'

LADY
'My heart is cold; it trembles at such news!
Here's bags of gold, if you will me excuse
And seize on those; and finish thou their strife,
Who wretched are, and weary of their life.

Are there not many bound in prison strong
In bitter grief? and souls that languish long,
Who could but find the grave a place of rest
From all their grief; by which they are opprest.

Besides there's many with a hoary head
And palsied joints; from whom all joy is fled
Release thou them whose sorrows are so great,
And spare my life until a later date!'

DEATH
'Though thy vain heart to riches is inclined
Yet thou must die and leave them all behind.
I come to none before their warrant's sealed,
And, when it is, they must submit, and yield.

Though some by age be full of grief and pain,
Till their appointed time they must remain;
I take no bribe, believe me,this is true.
Prepare yourself to go; I'm come for you.'

LADY
'But if, oh! if you could for me obtain
A freedom, and a longer life to reign,
Fain would I stay, if thou my life wouldst spare.
I have a daughter, beautiful and fair,
I wish to see her wed, whom I adore;
Grant me but this, and I will ask no more?'
(The last part of the music must be repeated
to fit the extra line)

DEATH
'This is a slender frivolous excuse!
I have you fast! I will not let you loose!
Leave her to Providence, for you must go
Along with me, whether you will or no!

If Death commands the King to leave his crown
He at my feet must lay his sceptre down;
Then, if to Kings I do not favour give
But cut them off, can you expect to live
Beyond the limits of your time and space?
No! I must send you to another place.'
(The last part of the music must be repeated
to fit the extra line)

LADY
'Ye learned doctors, now exert your skill,
And let not Death on me obtain his will!
Prepare your cordials, let me comfort find,
My gold shall fly like chaff before the wind!'

DEATH
'Forbear to call! that skill will never do;
They are but mortals here as well as you.
I give the fatal wound, my dart is sure,
And far beyond the doctors' skill to cure.

Flow freely you can let your riches fly
To purchase life, rather than yield and die!
But,while you flourished here with all your store,
You would not give one penny to the poor.

Though in God's name they sue to you did make
You would not spare one penny for His sake.
My Lord beheld wherein you did amiss,
And calls you hence, to give account of this!'

LADY
'Oh! heavy news! must I no longer stay?
How shall I stand at the great Judgement Day?'
Down from her eyes the crystal tears did flow,
She says, 'None knows what I now undergo!

Upon my bed of sorrow here I lie!
My selfish life makes me afraid to die!
My sins are great, and manifold,and foul;
Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on my soul!

Alas! I do deserve a righteous frown!
Yet pardon, Lord, and pour a blessing down!'
Then with a dying sigh her heart did break,
And did the pleasures of this world forsake.

Thus may we see the mighty rise and fall,
For cruel Death shews no respect at all
To those of either high or low degree.
The great submit to Death as well as we.

Though they are gay, their life is but a span,
A lump of clay, so vile a creature's Man!
Then happy they whom God hath made his care,
And die in God, and ever happy are!

The grave's the market place where all must meet
Both rich and poor, as well as small and great;
If life were merchandise, that gold could buy,
The rich would live -- only the poor would die.

Dark tales from Austria (1868)

Someone intetrogates his wife with double
medieval tortures, that of Iron Boots (compressing
her legs nearly to the point of being broken)
and that of finger smashers

"Dunkle Geschichten aus Oesterreich" by Moritz Bermann is a book with collection of dark stories from Austria, with macabre illustrations by Vinzenz Katzler (tortures, executions, murders, etc. Unfortunatelly the book is still in German, but is in public domain, so anyone who understands german can read it in wikipedia. I only post here the most macabre illustrations.

Public flagellation for adultery

The victim is walled in a room, where is left to die

A bound victim left to be eaten by dogs and wild animals

Public Decapitation

Compalsory drinking or the droplet torture.
With the threat of smashing his boby
with the fall of a heavy instrument to follow...

The Horrible Death with the nails
of the Hollow "Iron Maiden"

Public execution with burning

William Blake's "The Night of Enitharmon's Joy" (1795)

The Night of Enitharmon's Joy (1795), often refered as The Triple Hecate or simply Hecate, is a 1795 colour print by English artist and poet William Blake depicting Enitharmon, a female character in his mythology, as a androgynous Hecate, Greco-Roman goddess of magic and the underworld, in a nightmarish scene with fantastic creatures. The picture also alludes the Three Fates. Despite this allusion, critics point out that the primary source for Blake's inspiration is Shakespeare, from Macbeth, where there are similarities with the animals illustrated in this painting.

"Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and owlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble."
(Macbeth, IV.i)

Enitharmon is a major female character in William Blake's mythology, playing a main part in some of his prophetic books. She represents the Feminine Will upon the patriarchal Christianity. It's a quite obscure figure representing spiritual beauty and poetic inspiration. She is symbolised by the moon and she is characterised by Pity. As poetic instinct, Enitharmon is represented as being born of the sexual problems that happen during puberty. She is a goddess that represents what cannot be found within nature. In her connection to space, she represents the psychological aspects of unbound space upon the mind.

After her birth, Enitharmon declares that women will rule the world, with Man being given Love and Women being given Pride. This would create within men a fear of female dominance that would in turn bring them under control of the females. In her sexual system, there are four parts: desire, sperm, frustration, and finally war. These are represented by sexual desire being contained to body, which leads to guilt, followed by frustration and ends with erotic dreams. In the last stage, war is the ultimate result of sexual repression. This war is connected to general war and to energy as a whole. Sex is supposed to lead to imagination and love. Love is supposed to leave one to a higher state, and the perversion of sexuality, in Blake's view, leads to destruction.

The Female Will is born from an object of affection refusing to give up its independence, and the concept represents what prohibits an individual from being able to have true vision. (wikipedia)

I think that it worths to mention my observation that this obscured myth has striking similarities with Wilhelm Reich's theory and work of "sexual economy" in libido and patrism vs matrism.

John Everett Millais' "Ophelia" (1852)

H Οφηλία είναι ένας ρομαντικός και ευαίσθητος χαρακτήρας από τον Αμλετ του Σαίξπηρ, η οποία ήταν ερωτευμένη με τον Αμλετ, αλλά αυτός την αγνοούσε ή της φερόταν κυνικά και υποτιμητικά. Σε κάποια στιγμή δολοφονεί και τον πατέρα της και τότε η Οφηλία σχεδόν τρελαίνεται, μιλάει με γρίφους και ρίμες και τραγουδάει περίεργα και «σοκιν» τραγούδια για το θάνατο και το χάσιμο παρθενιάς, κρατώντας λουλούδια, τα οποία έχουν διάφορους συμβολισμούς.

Αργότερα, η βασίλισσα Gertrude ανακοινώνει το θάνατο της Οφηλίας Είχε ανέβει σε μια ιτιά, το κλαδί έσπασε και έπεσε στο ποτάμι και πνίγηκε. Η ανακοίνωση αυτή θεωρείται μια από τις ποιητικότερες ανακοινώσεις θανάτου στην λογοτεχνία.

Η εικόνα της Οφηλίας αθώας και περιτριγυρισμένης με λουλούδια δείχνει να είναι η μόνη αγνή μορφή στο σάπιο βασίλειο της Δανιμαρκίας που τρέφει αγνά αισθήματα.

O πιο γνωστός και δραματικός πίνακας που αποτυπώνει το θάνατο της Οφηλίας είναι αυτός του 1852 από τον Προ-Ραφαηλίτη John Everett Millais.

Ophelia is a romantic and sensitive character in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. She was in love with Hamlet, but he ignored her, sometimes abusing her. He also killed her father, and then Ophelia got mad and walked around holding flowers and talked in riddles or sang songs about death and losing virginity.

Later, Queen Gertrude, in her monologue (There is a willow grows aslant the brook), reports that Ophelia had climbed into a willow tree, and then a branch broke and dropped Ophelia into the brook, where she drowned. Gertrude says that Ophelia appeared "incapable of her own distress". Gertrude's announcement of Ophelia's death has been praised as one of the most poetic death announcements in literature.

The most dramatic depiction in art of the Death of Ophelia is that of 1852 painting by the Pre-Raphaelite John Everett Millais.

E. A. Poe's "Raven" inspiration in Rock and Metal

The psychedelic band The Glass Prism released an album in 1969 entitled "Poe Through the Glass Prism," with the lyrics coming entirely from various poems by Poe. "The Raven" was the single from the album.



The Alan Parsons Project album Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1976) includes a song based on "The Raven" and entitled the same, but with only two verses.



A musical variation of "The Raven" was performed by the Grateful Dead during Space on April 19, 1982.

The black metal band Carpathian Forest used the first two verses of the poem for "The Eclipse / The Raven" on their EP Through Chasm, Caves and Titan Woods (1995).



The gothic metal band Tristania released a track titled "My Lost Lenore" on Widow's Weeds (1998). It is clearly inspired by this poem, but does not incorporate the poem as part of the lyrics. The entire album is in fact reminiscent of The Raven."The Ravens" is another song inspired by the poem, although its main theme is terrorism.




The German black metal band Agathodaimon quotes "The Raven" in the song "Les Posédes" on their 1999 album Higher Art of Rebellion.

A song based on "The Raven" appears on the Grave Digger album The Grave Digger (2003), alongside other songs based on the work of Edgar Allan Poe.



Lou Reed's 2003 album The Raven is based on Poe's work, including his own version of The Raven in a song by the same name.



The song Kremlin Dusk, from Japanese pop star Utada Hikaru's English-language album Exodus (2004), begins "All along, I was searching for my Lenore/In the words of Mr. Edgar Allan Poe/Now I'm sober and "Nevermore"/Will the Raven come to bother me at home." It also refers to the "dying ember" line in the poem.



Seattle, Washington metal band Nevermore got its name from the repeated refrain in "The Raven". The band also referenced it in the title track from their 2005 album This Godless Endeavor.



The Dutch neoceltic pagan folk band Omnia put a slightly edited version of the poem to music as the second track on their 2007 album Alive!.



The American gothic horror band Nox Arcana released a CD entitled Shadow of the Raven in 2007. Three songs—"Midnight Dreary", "The Raven" and "Nevermore"—as well as the album's title, are direct references to the poem.





The German symphonic metal band Xandria included the quote "Thus spoke the raven, 'Nevermore'" in their song Ravenheart, which is inspired by the poem as well..



The Christian third-wave ska band Five Iron Frenzy quotes many of Poe's lines in "That's How The Story Ends", from The End Is Near, and alludes ironically to the mysterious and somber mood of "The Raven".



The song "Campanas en la Noche" ("Bells in the Night") by the Argentine rock band Los Tipitos, the tale of a man wishing for the return of his lover, is loosely based on the poem. This relationship is even more evident in the song's video, which features the bust of Pallas and the titular raven itself.



Rapper MC Lars released the track "Mr. Raven" on The Laptop EP, quoting some lines directly from the poem and modifying others (e.g. "Once upon a midnight dreary, while I kicked it weak and weary").



The song "Run-Around" by Blues Traveler begins, "Once upon a midnight deary...", a reference to the opening of The Raven.



The extreme metal band, Cradle of Filth, has quoted the poem in their song entitled "An Enemy Led the Tempest".



The Canadian artist Nash the Slash included an instrumental track called "Lost Lenore" on his vinyl album The Million Year Picnic.



Jean Sibelius allegedly based an early conception of his fourth symphony on "The Raven".[citation needed]


The Devil Wears Prada used a track of a man reading a part of "The Raven" as a part of an introduction to concerts during a 2008 tour with Underoath. The piece led into the ending breakdown in the song "Goats on a Boat"



The Dutch based hardstyle artist DJ Pavo released a track entitled "Raven", which quotes various lines from the poem.



Buddy Morrow and His Orchestra recorded an album of songs based on Poe's works. The album, "Poe for Moderns," includes a condensed, jazzy version of "The Raven."

(wikipedia)

E. A. Poe's "Raven" description and analysis

David Scattergood (1869)

Ο ήρωας του ποιήματος είναι ένας ανώνυμος διανοούμενος ο οποίος διαβάζει βιβλία για ξεχασμένες παραδόσεις, προσπαθώντας να καλμάρει τον πόνο του για τον χαμό της αγαπημένης του Lenore. Ακούει χτυπήματα στην πόρτα και το παράθυρο και ενώ πάει να δει ποιος είναι, μπαίνει μέσα ένα κοράκι και πάει και θρονιάζεται στο κεφάλι μιας προτομής της θεάς Αθηνάς. Ρωτάει διάφορα πράγματα στο πουλί, αρχικά με περιπαιχτικό τρόπο και αυτό του απαντάει σταθερά «Ποτέ πια». Μετά αρχίζει να του ρωτάει διάφορα πιο προσωπικά του, για το αν θα φύγει και αυτό όπως όλοι του οι φίλοι και η συνεχής απάντηση είναι η ίδια «Ποτέ πια!»

Edouard Manet (1875)

Πηγαίνει και στέκεται μπροστά στο πουλί και αρχίζει να σκέφτεται την χαμένη του Lenore, έχει οράματα με αγγέλους και η μονότονη απόκριση του κορακιού «Ποτέ πια» τον κάνει να ξεσπάει εναντίον του, αναρωτώμενος αν το πουλί είναι προφήτης ή απεσταλμένος του διαβόλου. Ρωτώντας και για την χαμένη του αγάπη την Lenore, αν θα την ξαναδεί στην άλλη ζωή, παίρνει πάλι την απάντηση «Ποτέ πια!». Τότε οργισμένος του ζητάει να επιστρέψει στο καταχθόνιο βασίλειο του σκοταδιού. Η απάντηση είναι πάλι «Ποτέ πια!». Ο ήρωας τότε αρχίζει να διαισθάνεται ότι η ψυχή του έχει παγιδευτεί κάτω από τη σκιά του κορακιού που εξακολουθεί να είναι θρονιασμένο στο κεφάλι της Αθηνάς και πως δεν θα ελευθερωθεί «Ποτέ πια!»

Edouard Manet (1875)

Ο ήρωας του ποιήματος βρίσκεται παγιδευμένος σε μια συγκρουσιακή ψυχική κατάσταση να θέλει να ξεχάσει, αλλά συγχρόνως να θέλει να θυμάται (την αγαπημένη του), από την οποία θύμηση της απώλειας αντλεί ταυτόχρονα και πόνο και ευχαρίστηση. Στις ερωτήσεις που κάνει στο κοράκι γνωρίζει την απάντηση, όπως γνωρίζει από την κοινή λογική ότι το κοράκι, ως μη ανθρώπινο ον, δεν έχει συναίσθηση αυτών των λέξεων που έμαθε να εκφέρει, κι όμως το ρωτάει επίτηδες με τέτοιο τρόπο ώστε να ταιριάζουν σε αυτές οι μονότονες απαντήσεις του πουλιού. Το ότι το κοράκι κάθεται πάνω στο κεφάλι της Αθηνάς είναι μια συμβολική εικόνα του ότι προσπαθεί να προσδώσει μια σοφία και λογική στις απαντήσεις του. Σε εμάς τους αναγνώστες δεν είναι ξεκάθαρο αν το κοράκι είναι όντως ένα ιδιαίτερο πουλί με σοφία, ή απλώς ένα οποιοδήποτε πουλί το οποίο παπαγαλίζει μια λέξη που άκουσε τυχαία.

Edouard Manet (1875)

Γενικά ο συμβολισμός του ποιήματος δημιουργεί μια σκοτεινή γκοθ ατμόσφαιρα: Οι ξεχασμένες παραδόσεις με τις οποίες ενασχολείται πιθανότατα έχουν σχέση με αποκρυφισμό και μαγεία. Ο μήνας Δεκέμβριος, πέραν του ότι είναι στην καμπή της αλλαγής του χρόνου που δηλώνει ένα τέλος εποχής, είναι και ο μήνας που είναι συνδεδεμένος με τις δυνάμεις του σκότους. Το κοράκι είναι ένα έξυπνο πουλί, που έχει ικανότητα άρθρωσης λέξεων, αλλά συγχρόνως είναι και πουλί σύμβολο του άλλου κόσμου, πτωματοφάγο, κακός οιωνός, κλπ. Στην Νορβηγική μυθολογία, ο Οντίν έχει στην κατοχή του δυο κοράκια, σύμβολα της σκέψης και της μνήμης.

Edouard Manet (1875)

The Raven" follows an unnamed narrator who sits reading "forgotten lore" as a method to forget the loss of his love, Lenore. A "rapping at [his] chamber door" reveals nothing, but excites his soul to "burning". A similar rapping, slightly louder, is heard at his window. When he goes to investigate, a raven steps into his chamber. Paying no attention to the man, the raven perches on a bust of Pallas. Amused by the raven's comically serious disposition, the man demands that the bird tell him its name. The raven's only answer is "Nevermore". The narrator is surprised that the raven can talk, though it says nothing further. The narrator remarks to himself that his "friend" the raven will soon fly out of his life, just as "other friends have flown before" along with his previous hopes. As if answering, the raven responds again with "Nevermore". The narrator reasons that the bird learned the word "Nevermore" from some "unhappy master" and that it is the only word it knows.

Edouard Manet (1875)

Even so, the narrator pulls his chair directly in front of the raven, determined to learn more about it. He thinks for a moment, not saying anything, but his mind wanders back to his lost Lenore. He thinks the air grows denser and feels the presence of angels. Confused by the association of the angels with the bird, the narrator becomes angry, calling the raven a "thing of evil" and a "prophet". As he yells at the raven it only responds, "Nevermore". Finally, he asks the raven whether he will be reunited with Lenore in Heaven. When the raven responds with its typical "Nevermore", he shrieks and commands the raven to return to the "Plutonian shore", though it never moves. Presumably at the time of the poem's recitation by the narrator, the raven "still is sitting" on the bust of Pallas. The narrator's final admission is that his soul is trapped beneath the raven's shadow and shall be lifted "Nevermore".

Edouard Manet (1875)

The main theme of the poem is one of undying devotion. The narrator experiences a perverse conflict between desire to forget and desire to remember. He seems to get some pleasure from focusing on loss. The narrator assumes that the word "Nevermore" is the raven's "only stock and store", and, yet, he continues to ask it questions, knowing what the answer will be. His questions, then, are purposely self-deprecating and further incite his feelings of loss. Poe leaves it unclear if the raven actually knows what it is saying or if it really intends to cause a reaction in the poem's narrator. The narrator begins as weak and weary, becomes regretful and grief-stricken, before passing into a frenzy and, finally, madness. The raven perches on a bust of Pallas Athena, a symbol of wisdom meant to imply the narrator is a scholar.

Poe says that the narrator is a young scholar. Though this is not explicitly stated in the poem, it is mentioned in "The Philosophy of Composition". It is also suggested by the narrator reading books of "lore" as well as by the bust of Pallas Athena, goddess of wisdom. He is reading "many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore" may be about the occult or black magic. Τhe poem is set in December, a month which is traditionally associated with the forces of darkness, or is in the end and change of a year. Τhe raven is "from the Night's Plutonian shore", a messenger from the afterlife.

John Tenniel (1858)

Poe chose a raven as the central symbol in the story because he wanted a "non-reasoning" creature capable of speech. Poe said the raven is meant to symbolize "Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance". In Norse mythology, Odin possessed two ravens representing thought and memory. According to Gennesis, Noah sends a white raven to check conditions while on the ark. It learns that the floodwaters are beginning to dissipate, but it does not immediately return with the news. (Wikipedia)

Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven", The Poem and illustrations by Gustave Dore

One of the dark goth masterpieces of the world heritage, that has inspired numerous rock and metal songs. The view of a crow sitting on the bust of Athena Pallas is one of the most recognisable pictures, so is the word “nevermore” that is constantly repeated by the bird. Let’s see the poem today, with Gustave Dore's illustration. Then I'll post some comments and some related rock and metal songs.


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.'


Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Nameless here for evermore.


And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
`'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door -
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; -
This it is, and nothing more,'


Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
`Sir,' said I, `or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you' - here I opened wide the door; -
Darkness there, and nothing more.


Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before
But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, `Lenore!'
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, `Lenore!'
Merely this and nothing more.


Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
`Surely,' said I, `surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore -
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; -
'Tis the wind and nothing more!'


Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore.
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door -
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door -
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.


Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
`Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,' I said, `art sure no craven.
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore -
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'


Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning - little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door -
Bird or beast above the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as `Nevermore.'


But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only,
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered - not a feather then he fluttered -
Till I scarcely more than muttered `Other friends have flown before -
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.'
Then the bird said, `Nevermore.'


Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
`Doubtless,' said I, `what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore -
Till the dirges of his hope that melancholy burden bore
Of "Never-nevermore."'


But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore -
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking `Nevermore.'


This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!


Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
`Wretch,' I cried, `thy God hath lent thee - by these angels he has sent thee
Respite - respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'


`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! -
Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted -
On this home by horror haunted - tell me truly, I implore -
Is there - is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'


`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore -
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels named Lenore?'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'


`Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!' I shrieked upstarting -
`Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'


And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore!

Gustave Dore's Divine Comedy illustration

H Θεία Κωμωδία είναι ένα επικό ποίημα του Dante Alighieri που γράφτηκε μεταξύ 1308 και 1321 και θεωρείται ως ένας από τους προδρόμους της Ιταλικής λογοτεχνίας, αλλά και ένα από τα σπουδαιότερα έργα της παγκόσμιας λογοτεχνίας.


Είναι ένα φανταστικό και αλληγορικό όραμα της χριστιανικής μετά θάνατον ζωής, όπως αυτό προσλαμβάνονταν εκείνη την εποχή και είχε αναπτυχθεί από την εκκλησία. Χωρίζεται σε τρία μέρη, την Κόλαση, το Καθαρτήριο και τον Παράδεισο.


Επιφανειακά, το ποίημα περιγράφει την περιήγηση του Δάντη στην Κόλαση, το Καθαρτήριο και τον Παράδεισο. Όμως σε ένα βαθύτερο επίπεδο, είναι μια αλληγορική περιγραφή του ταξιδιού των ψυχών προς τον Θεό., αντλώντας έμπνευση από την Χριστιανική θεολογία και τις διδασκαλίες του Θωμά του Ακινάτη.


Είναι γραμμένο σε πρώτο πρόσωπο, και περιγράφει το ταξίδι του Δάντη και στα τρία βασίλεια των νεκρών, το οποίο διαρκεί από τη Μεγάλη Παρασκευή μέχρι την Τετάρτη μετά το Πάσχα την Ανοιξη του 1300. Τον Δάντη συνοδεύει ο ποιητής Βιργίλιος στην Κόλαση και το Καθαρτήριο, στον δε Παράδεισο η Βεατρίκη, ο πλατωνικός του έρωτας από τα παιδικά του χρόνια και το πρότυπο της εξειδανικευμένης γυναίκας για αυτόν.


Η εικονογραφήσεις του έργου από τον Gustave Dore είναι πιο ζοφερές και μακάβριες στην Κόλαση και το Καθαρτήριο, αλλά αυτές του Παραδείσου εκπέμπουν φως και έχουν μια εντυπωσιακή λεπτομέρεια και γεωμετρία σαν των φράκταλ σχεδίων. Μπορείτε να δείτε όλη την εικονογράφηση του έργου ανά κεφάλαιο στα Wikimedia Commons: Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso


The Divine Comedy is an epic poem written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and his death in 1321. It is widely considered the preeminent work of Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature. The poem's imaginative and allegorical vision of the Christian afterlife is a culmination of the medieval world-view as it had developed in the Western Church It is divided into three parts, the Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.


On the surface the poem describes Dante's travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven; but at a deeper level it represents allegorically the soul's journey towards God. At this deeper level, Dante draws on medieval Christian theology and philosophy, especially the teachings of Thomas Aquinas. At the surface level, the poem is understood to be fictional.


The poem is written in the first person, and tells of Dante's journey through the three realms of the dead, lasting from the night before Good Friday to the Wednesday after Easter in the spring of 1300. The Roman poet Virgil guides him through Hell and Purgatory; Beatrice, Dante's ideal woman, guides him through Heaven. Beatrice was a Florentine woman whom he had met in childhood and admired from afar in the mode of the then-fashionable courtly love tradition. (Wikipedia)


Gustave Dore’s illustration is quite goth and murky for Inferno and Purgatorio but for Paradiso are luminous and detailed, reminding geometrical and fractal structures. You can see all the illustrations in wikimedia commons, per chapter: Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso