I stood dazed.

It was true I had come of myself, but had I not come with intent of atonement?
My heart was sore, and in my brain was neither quest nor purpose, hope nor desire.

I gazed after the raven, and would have followed him, but felt it useless.
All at once he pounced on a spot, throwing the whole weight of his body on his bill, and for some moments dug vigorously.

Then with a flutter of his wings he threw back his head, and something shot from his bill, cast high in the air.

That moment the sun set, and the air at once grew very dusk, but the something opened into a soft radiance, and came pulsing toward me like a fire-fly, but with a much larger and a yellower light.
It flew over my head.