The Raven
From the first printing, 1845:
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness 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.
From the final authorized printing, 1849:
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal 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.
Personally I prefer "stillness" and the the exclamation point (actually I think neither punctuation would be best, although Poe uses excessive !s throughout the poem, so there's no reason to single this one out). That's how it appears in the critical edition of 1885 (which also contains a list of the changes made between versions). I also quite like the italicized pronoun, since it more closely echoes the way one would read it (and "The Raven" is a poem which cries out be to read aloud if ever there was one).
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness 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.
From the final authorized printing, 1849:
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal 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.
Personally I prefer "stillness" and the the exclamation point (actually I think neither punctuation would be best, although Poe uses excessive !s throughout the poem, so there's no reason to single this one out). That's how it appears in the critical edition of 1885 (which also contains a list of the changes made between versions). I also quite like the italicized pronoun, since it more closely echoes the way one would read it (and "The Raven" is a poem which cries out be to read aloud if ever there was one).