Page 304 - SpringBoard_ELA_Grade7_Flipbook

ACTIvITy 4.5
continued
Preview
In this activity, you will read a poem and think about the way the author uses language.
Setting a Purpose for Reading
• As you read the poem, underline words and phrases that create a mood.
• Circle unknown words and phrases. Try to determine the meaning of the words by using context clues, word parts, or a dictionary.
• Mark the text to indicate use of language that is new or that appeals to you.
my Notes
About the Author
Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) is a writer best known for his chilling and suspenseful tales of horror. “The Raven” (1845) gave Poe his first major success as a writer. Poe’s purpose for writing this poem was simple. He wanted to show his readers a mind filled with “fantastic terrors.”
poetry
The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore— While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door—
5 “’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door— Only this and nothing more.”
Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow
10 From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore— For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
Nameless here for evermore.
And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
15 So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating, “’Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door— Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;—
This it is and nothing more.”
Unit 4 • How We Choose to Act 277
wrought: fashioned, formed
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