The Raven

The Raven
Nevermore

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Moby Dick Herman Melville

 Read this book from the chapters below at: Moby Dick; or, The Whale by Herman Melville :: Classic Books and Short Stories

Moby Dick; or, The Whale


Moby-Dick, written in 1851, recounts the adventures of the narrator Ishmael as he sails on the whaling ship Pequod under the command of Captain Ahab.


Ishmael believes he has signed onto a routine commission aboard a normal whaling vessel, but he soon learns that Captain Ahab is not guiding the Pequod in the simple pursuit of commerce but is seeking one specific whale, Moby-Dick, a great while whale infamous for his giant proportions and his ability to destroy the whalers that seek him. Captain Ahab's wooden leg is the result of his first encounter with the whale, when he lost both leg and ship. But Captain Ahab is bent on revenge and he intends to get Moby-Dick.






Ahab demonstrates erratic behavior from the very beginning and his eccentricities magnify as the voyage progresses. As the novel draws to a conclusion, the Pequod encounters the whaling ship Rachel. The Rachel's captain asks Ahab to help him in a search and rescue effort for his whaling-crew that went missing the day before - and the captain's son is among the missing. But when Ahab learns that the crew disappeared while tangling with Moby-Dick he refuses the call to aid in the rescue so that he may hunt Moby-Dick instead.






The encounter with Moby-Dick brings a tragic end to the affair. Ishmael alone survives, using his friend Queequeg's coffin as a flotation device until he is ironically rescued by the Rachel, which has continued to search for its missing crew.






The novel is not only a great American classic, but is also heralded as one of greatest novels in the English language. I hope you enjoy reading it.






Start Reading Moby Dick; or, The Whale






Table of Contents


ETYMOLOGY


Chapter 1 - Loomings






Chapter 2 - The Carpet-Bag






Chapter 3 - The Spouter Inn






Chapter 4 - The Counterpane






Chapter 5 - Breakfast






Chapter 6 - The Street






Chapter 7 - The Chapel






Chapter 8 - The Pulpit






Chapter 9 - The Sermon






Chapter 10 - A Bosom Friend






Chapter 11 - Nightgown






Chapter 12 - Biographical






Chapter 13 - Wheelbarrow






Chapter 14 - Nantucket






Chapter 15 - Chowder






Chapter 16 - The Ship






Chapter 17 - The Ramadan






Chapter 18 - His Mark






Chapter 19 - The Prophet






Chapter 20 - All Astir






Chapter 21 - Going Aboard






Chapter 22 - Merry Christmas






Chapter 23 - The Lee Shore






Chapter 24 - The Advocate






Chapter 25 - Postscript






Chapter 26 - Knights and Squires






Chapter 27 - Knights and Squires






Chapter 28 - Ahab






Chapter 29 - Enter Ahab; to Him, Stubb






Chapter 30 - The Pipe






Chapter 31 - Queen Mab






Chapter 32 - Cetology






Chapter 33 - The Specksynder






Chapter 34 - The Cabin-Table






Chapter 35 - The Mast-Head






Chapter 36 - The Quarter-Deck






Chapter 37 - Sunset






Chapter 38 - Dusk






Chapter 39 - First Night-Watch






Chapter 40 - Midnight, Forecastle






Chapter 41 - Moby Dick






Chapter 42 - The Whiteness of The Whale






Chapter 43 - Hark!






Chapter 44 - The Chart






Chapter 45 - The Affidavit






Chapter 46 - Surmises






Chapter 47 - The Mat-Maker






Chapter 48 - The First Lowering






Chapter 49 - The Hyena






Chapter 50 - Ahab's Boat and Crew. Fedallah






Chapter 51 - The Spirit-Spout






Chapter 52 - The Albatross






Chapter 53 - The Gam






Chapter 54 - The Town-Ho's Story






Chapter 55 - Of the Monstrous Pictures of Whales






Chapter 56 - Of the Less Erroneous Pictures of Whales and the True Pictures of Whaling Scenes






Chapter 57 - Of Whales in Paint; in Teeth; in Wood; in Sheet-Iron; in Stone; in Mountains; in Stars






Chapter 58 - Brit






Chapter 59 - Squid






Chapter 60 - The Line






Chapter 61 - Stubb Kills a Whale






Chapter 62 - The Dart






Chapter 63 - The Crotch






Chapter 64 - Stubb's Supper






Chapter 65 - The Whale as a Dish






Chapter 66 - The Shark Massacre






Chapter 67 - Cutting In






Chapter 68 - The Blanket






Chapter 69 - The Funeral






Chapter 70 - The Sphynx






Chapter 71 - The Jeroboam's Story






Chapter 72 - The Monkey-Rope






Chapter 73 - Stubb and Flask Kill a Right Whale and Then Have a Talk Over Him






Chapter 74 - The Sperm Whale's Head - Contrasted View






Chapter 75 - The Right Whale's Head - Contrasted View






Chapter 76 - The Battering-Ram






Chapter 77 - The Great Heidelburgh Tun






Chapter 78 - Cistern and Buckets






Chapter 79 - The Prairie






Chapter 80 - The Nut






Chapter 81 - The Pequod Meets The Virgin






Chapter 82 - The Honor and Glory of Whaling






Chapter 83 - Jonah Historically Regarded






Chapter 84 - Pitchpoling






Chapter 85 - The Fountain






Chapter 86 - The Tail






Chapter 87 - The Grand Armada






Chapter 88 - Schools and Schoolmasters






Chapter 89 - Fast-Fish and Loose-Fish






Chapter 90 - Heads or Tails






Chapter 91 - The Pequod Meets The Rose-Bud






Chapter 92 - Ambergris






Chapter 93 - The Castaway






Chapter 94 - A Squeeze of the Hand






Chapter 95 - The Cassock






Chapter 96 - The Try-Works






Chapter 97 - The Lamp






Chapter 98 - Stowing Down and Clearing Up






Chapter 99 - The Doubloon






Chapter 100 - Leg and Arm. The Pequod of Nantucket, Meets the Samuel Enderby, of London






Chapter 101 - The Decanter






Chapter 102 - A Bower in the Arsacides






Chapter 103 - Measurement of The Whale's Skeleton






Chapter 104 - The Fossil Whale






Chapter 105 - Does the Whale's Magnitude Diminish? - Will He Perish?






Chapter 106 - Ahab's Leg






Chapter 107 - The Carpenter






Chapter 108 - Ahab and the Carpenter






Chapter 109 - Ahab and Starbuck in the Cabin






Chapter 110 - Queequeg in His Coffin






Chapter 111 - The Pacific






Chapter 112 - The Blacksmith






Chapter 113 - The Forge






Chapter 114 - The Gilder






Chapter 115 - The Pequod Meets The Bachelor






Chapter 116 - The Dying Whale






Chapter 117 - The Whale Watch






Chapter 118 - The Quadrant






Chapter 119 - The Candles






Chapter 120 - The Deck Toward the End of the First Night Watch






Chapter 121 - Midnight - The Forecastle Bulwarks






Chapter 122 - Midnight Aloft.- Thunder and Lightning






Chapter 123 - The Musket






Chapter 124 - The Needle






Chapter 125 - The Log and Line






Chapter 126 - The Life-Buoy






Chapter 127 - The Deck






Chapter 128 - The Pequod Meets The Rachel






Chapter 129 - The Cabin






Chapter 130 - The Hat






Chapter 131 - The Pequod Meets The Delight






Chapter 132 - The Symphony






Chapter 133 - The Chase - First Day






Chapter 134 - The Chase - Second Day






Chapter 135 - The Chase - Third Day






Epilogue

























The Raven Edgar Allan Poe

Title: The Raven
Author: 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 some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.


"'Tis some visiter," 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


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;


So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating


"'Tis some visiter entreating entrance at my chamber door--


Some late visiter entreating entrance at my chamber door;


This it is and nothing more."






Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,


"Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;


But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,


And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,


That I scarce was sure I heard you"--here I opened wide the door--


Darkness there and nothing more.






Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,


Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;


But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,


And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore?"


This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!"--


Merely this and nothing more.






Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,


Soon again I heard a tapping something louder than before.


"Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice;


Let me see, then, what thereat is and this mystery explore--


Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;--


'Tis the wind and nothing more.






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.


Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he,


But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door--


Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door--


Perched, and sat, and nothing more.






Then the ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,


By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,


"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven,


Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore--


Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"


Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."






Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,


Though its answer little meaning--little relevancy bore;


For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being


Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door--


Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,


With such name as "Nevermore."






But the Raven, sitting lonely on that placid bust, spoke only


That one word, as if its soul in that one word he did outpour


Nothing farther then he uttered; not a feather then he fluttered--


Till I scarcely more than muttered: "Other friends have flown before--


On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before."


Then the bird said "Nevermore."






Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,


"Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store,


Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster


Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore--


Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore


Of 'Never--nevermore.'"






But the Raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,


Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;


Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking


Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore--


What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore


Meant in croaking "Nevermore."






This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing


To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;


This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining


On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,


But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er


She shall press, ah, nevermore!






Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer


Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.


"Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee--by these angels he hath sent thee


Respite--respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!


Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!"


Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."






"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil!--prophet still, if bird or devil!--


Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,


Desolate, yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted--


On this home by Horror haunted--tell me truly, I implore--


Is there--is there balm in Gilead?--tell me--tell me, I implore!"


Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."






"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil!--prophet still, if bird or devil!


By that Heaven that bends above us--by that God we both adore--


Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,


It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore--


Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore."


Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."






"Be that our sign of parting, bird or fiend!" I shrieked, upstarting--


"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!


Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul has spoken!


Leave my loneliness unbroken!--quit the bust above my door!


Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"


Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."






And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting


On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;


And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming


And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadows on the floor;


And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor


Shall be lifted--nevermore!






_________