"The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe first published in January 1845. Noted for its musicality, stylized language and supernatural atmosphere, it tells of a talking raven's mysterious visit to a distraught lover, tracing his slow descent into madness. The lover, often identified as a student, is lamenting the loss of his love Lenore. The raven, sitting on a bust of Pallas, seems to further instigate his distress with its repeated word, "Nevermore." Throughout, Poe makes allusions to folklore and various classical works. Poe claimed to have written the poem very logically and methodically. His intention was to create a poem that would appeal to both critical and popular tastes, as he explains in a follow-up essay "The Philosophy of Composition." The poem was inspired in part by a talking raven in the novel Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty by Charles Dickens. The first publication of "The Raven" on January 29, 1845 in the New York Evening Mirror made Poe widely popular in his day. The poem was soon heavily reprinted, parodied, and illustrated. Though some critics disagree about the value of the poem, it remains one of the most famous poems ever written.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raven

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1768: The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (title page pictured) was published. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica)

1917: Halifax Explosion: A ship in Halifax Harbour carrying trinitrotoluene (TNT) and picric acid caught fire after a collision with another ship and exploded, devastating Halifax, Canada. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Explosion)

1922: The Irish Free State, the first independent Irish state to be recognised by the British, came into existence, one year to the day after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Free_State)

1956: The Blood in the Water match: At the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, the Hungarian water polo team defeat the USSR, 4–0, against the background of the Hungarian Revolution. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_in_the_Water_match)

1957: Project Vanguard: An attempt to launch the first American satellite failed with an explosion on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Vanguard)

1989: Twenty-five year-old Marc Lépine shot twenty-eight people at the École Polytechnique de Montréal in Montreal, Quebec, killing fourteen women before committing suicide. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89cole_Polytechnique_massacre)

2005: Members of the People's Armed Police shot and killed several people during protests in Dongzhou, a village in Shanwei prefecture-level city, Guangdong Province, China, that was organised in opposition to government plans to build a new power plant. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dongzhou_protests)

_____________________ Wiktionary's Word of the day:

kick the bucket: (idiomatic, euphemism) To die. (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kick_the_bucket)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

It is stern work, it is perilous work, to thrust your hand in the sun And pull out a spark of immortal flame to warm the hearts of men:But Prometheus, torn by the claws and beaks whose task is never done, Would be tortured another eternity to go stealing fire again. --Joyce Kilmer (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joyce_Kilmer)