In the third and fourth lines of the poem, the speaker describes a tapping that he hears at his door, and this is an eerie occurrence because it is midnight—very late at night for someone to come calling for a visit.

The speaker says that he has been napping, dozing off while reading an old book and trying not to think of his recently-dead lover, a young woman called Lenore. Further, it is December, and so we might assume that it would be cold outside and even colder at midnight: another circumstance that would make a visitor less likely. Therefore, there are many reasons why it would be quite strange to have a visitor come and tap at the narrator's door at this time.

The speaker's heart begins to beat very quickly, and he keeps telling himself that surely it is just a visitor and nothing more than that. However, when he opens the door, there is only darkness. He stands there, peering out into the silence and darkness. He whispers his dead lover's name, Lenore, and he hears someone or something whisper it back. He hears the tapping again, now louder, and realizes that the sound is now coming from his window. He tells himself, despite his fast-beating heart, that it could only be the wind.