In Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven,” the raven’s repeated one-word response is “Nevermore.”
The narrator encounters the bird late at night while mourning Lenore, a lost beloved. The raven perches above the chamber door and answers a series of questions with the same word. As the narrator’s questions become more despairing, the repeated response seems to confirm that he will never escape his grief or reunite with Lenore.
Poe published “The Raven” in January 1845. Its musical effects include internal rhyme, alliteration, refrain, and a strong trochaic rhythm. The poem quickly became one of Poe’s best-known works and helped establish his reputation in the United States and abroad.
The bird’s name is not the answer; “raven” identifies the creature, while “Nevermore” is its refrain. Poe’s essay “The Philosophy of Composition” later presented the poem as carefully designed, although scholars debate how closely that account reflects the actual writing process.