Phrase Finder

No idea but...

Posted by Alex November 13, 2001In reply to No answer came the stern reply posted by Richard Beck on November 13, 2001

I would like to know the origin of the phrase
"No answer came the stern reply"

It's quite similar to a line from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven":
'...Stern Despair returned, instead of the sweet Hope he dared adjure - / That sad answer, "Never - nevermore."'

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