The Raven
Poetry (fiction) 1,090 words, Level Z2 (Grade 5+), Lexile NP
The Raven is a classic American poem famous for its dark themes, foreboding tone, and clever rhythms and rhymes. Eighteen stanzas take the reader on a journey through the troubled mind of the poem's narrator, a young man who sits alone in his study, depressed and agonizing over the loss of his beloved Lenore. Disturbed by a sudden knocking, the man soon finds himself in a strange conversation with a raven, which brings ominous implications for the increasingly distraught narrator.