<P> In the summer of 1844, when the poem was likely written, Poe, his wife, and mother - in - law were boarding at the farmhouse of Patrick Brennan . The location of the house, which was demolished in 1888, has been a disputed point and, while there are two different plaques marking its supposed location on West 84th Street, it most likely stood where 206 West 84th Street is now . </P> <P> In part due to its dual printing, "The Raven" made Edgar Allan Poe a household name almost immediately, and turned Poe into a national celebrity . Readers began to identify poem with poet, earning Poe the nickname "The Raven". The poem was soon widely reprinted, imitated, and parodied . Though it made Poe popular in his day, it did not bring him significant financial success . As he later lamented, "I have made no money . I am as poor now as ever I was in my life--except in hope, which is by no means bankable". </P> <P> The New World said, "Everyone reads the Poem and praises it...justly, we think, for it seems to us full of originality and power ." The Pennsylvania Inquirer reprinted it with the heading "A Beautiful Poem". Elizabeth Barrett wrote to Poe, "Your' Raven' has produced a sensation, a fit o' horror, here in England . Some of my friends are taken by the fear of it and some by the music . I hear of persons haunted by' Nevermore' ." Poe's popularity resulted in invitations to recite "The Raven" and to lecture--in public and at private social gatherings . At one literary salon, a guest noted, "to hear (Poe) repeat the Raven...is an event in one's life ." It was recalled by someone who experienced it, "He would turn down the lamps till the room was almost dark, then standing in the center of the apartment he would recite...in the most melodious of voices...So marvelous was his power as a reader that the auditors would be afraid to draw breath lest the enchanted spell be broken ." </P> <P> Parodies sprung up especially in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia and included "The Craven" by "Poh!", "The Gazelle", "The Whippoorwill", and "The Turkey". One parody, "The Pole - Cat", caught the attention of Andrew Johnston, a lawyer who sent it on to Abraham Lincoln . Though Lincoln admitted he had "several hearty laughs", he had not, at that point read "The Raven". However, Lincoln eventually read and memorized the poem . </P>

What is edgar allen poes the raven about