On a bleak night in , the speaker is trying to to distract himself from thinking about the death of his beloved . As he nods off, the speaker thinks he hears . He opens the door to find . Puzzled and afraid, the speaker turns back into the room and soon hears the sound again. This time he opens the to find the cause of the sound, and a flies into the room, landing on a bust of , the goddess of , above the speaker’s door. At first the speaker is amused by the bird, which only ever utters one word—“.” The speaker begins questioning the bird about his name and whether he will , as the speaker’s friends and hopes have often done. Then he pulls up a and sits at the bird without a word. The bird back. After some time, the speaker decides that has sent the bird to . When the bird denies this, the narrator becomes annoyed and asks the bird to answer just one question—Will he ever find ? When the bird answers that this will not happen, the speaker asks if he will at least . After the bird gives the same negative response, the speaker becomes irate, accuses him of being from , and orders the bird to immediately, leaving no trace of his “.” However, the bird to leave and instead stays perched on the bust above the door, forever casting his on the speaker.