The crossword solution for the term 'ABLE WAS I ___ I...' is 'ERE' (3 letters). This is a reference to the famous poem by Edgar Allan Poe, 'The Raven', which begins with the line 'Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, / Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore— / While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, / As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. / 'Tis some visitor, ' I muttered, 'tapping at my chamber door— / Only this and nothing more.' The last line of the poem is 'And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting / On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door; / And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming, / And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor; / And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor / Shall be lifted—nevermore!' The phrase 'ABLE was I ERE I saw Elba' is a play on the last line of the poem, and is meant to suggest that the speaker was strong and capable before they encountered the sorrowful Raven.