In the poem The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe what does vainly mean

"Vainly had I sought to borrow from my books surcease of sorrow"

The key to understanding this quote is to know what "vainly" and "surcease" mean. To do something vainly means to do it without success: I vainly searched for my quarter that rolled down the street rain drain. If something undergoes surcease, it stops, it ceases.