Anniversary of "The Raven"

"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...."  

"The Raven" was first published in the New York Evening Mirror on January 29, 1845. Poe used internal rhyme and alliteration, and based the rhythm on Elizabeth Barrett's poem "Lady Geraldine's Courtship". Of course, the poem is about an agonized lover who becomes more upset by the single word spoken by his avian visitor.

(We used to have ravens in our Arizona backyard. They're nearly two feet long, depending on the type. If one flew into my house, I wouldn't talk to it, I'd run away, LOL) 

The poem brought Poe little income but acclaim as a poet.