The moody, atmospheric poem "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe is told by a narrator who has recently lost his wife, whose name is Lenore. In the first verse, the speaker says that it is midnight and that he is weary and weak, but he is awake pondering over "many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore." In other words, he is in the library attempting to distract himself by reading obscure books.

The reason he has gone to the library to attempt to absorb himself in books is clear in the second verse. He says that he is trying to use the books to get over his grief at the death of his wife. The speaker exclaims that "vainly I had sought to borrow from my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore." The word surcease means to come to an end. The narrator is in a state of despair over the loss of his loved one, and he has gone to the library to read books in an attempt to get his mind off his overwhelming grief.

The narrator is in a state of terror as he thinks about death and the possibility that he will never see his beloved Lenore again. In this frame of mind, he encounters the raven. Although he seeks reassurance, he is answered only with the devastating and despairing word: "Nevermore!"

The speaker has been grieving the loss of his loved one, Lenore, and he's totally exhausted from it all. He's in his library to try to distract himself for a short while from his grief by reading. He falls asleep and wakes up at midnight when he hears a sound at the door.