The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe

While I admittedly first heard "The Raven" in its entirety in The Simpsons iconic first "Treehouse of Horror" episode (though, in my defense, that version was read by James Earl Jones), I do think this is an eerie poem that stays with you for a long time.

"The Raven" bears remarkable grief and a feeling of being haunted by remembering, but no longer having. Poe is a master of the gothic and morose. Yet, there is an element of longing beauty to "The Raven".

If you have not read "The Raven," I highly recommend it (and it's both short and in the public domain, so it's quite accessible). 

Illustration by Édouard Manet for a French translation by Stéphane Mallarmé of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" published in 1875. "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe was first published in the New York Evening Mirror in 1845.