A BIRD OF EVIL OMEN 109 



He hovers over a house in which there is to be a 

 death, even before the disease, which is to be its 

 precursor, has appeared. He brings infection with 

 him, and spreads it as he flies 



" The sad-presaging raven tolls 

 The sick man's passport in her hollow beak. 

 And in the shadow of the silent night 

 Doth shake contagion from her sable wing." 



He is on the field of battle, ready for the feast, long 

 before the carnage has begun. 



"'As when a flock 



Of ravenous fowl through many a league remote, 

 Against the day of battle, to a field 

 Where armies lie encamped, come flying, lured 

 With scent of living carcases." 



And it is the raven, according to the poets, who 

 occupies the foremost place among all 



" The birds obscene that croak and jar 

 And sniff the carnage from afar." 



Thus, Sir Walter Scott assigns to him the primacy 

 in the well-known lines : 



u Each bird of evil omen woke, 

 The raven gave his fatal croak, 

 And shrieked the night-crow from the oak, 

 The screech owl from the thicket broke 

 And fluttered down the dell." 



