In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven," a grieving man is visited by a raven on a bleak December night. The raven perches on a bust above his door and repeatedly croaks the word "Nevermore" in response to the man's questions about his lost love, Lenore. Driven to despair by the raven's ominous pronouncements, the man descends into madness, forever haunted by the bird's presence and the unyielding finality of "Nevermore," symbolizing the eternal loss and hopelessness that consumes him.