The anonymous Middle English Cleanness`s retelling of the Flood story from Genesis is distinctive (e.g. from the same poet`s Patience, a re-telling of the Jonah story) for its overall tone of anger and violence. One figure, the crow, would seem to be part and parcel of the pervading grim mood: it is on several points associated with the death that overtakes so many, and it attracts the focused anger of Noah himself. In this, Cleanness`s use of the bird would seem to be in general accord with the bulk of medieval exegesis on the story, which generally condemns Noah`s first envoy. However, a closer look at the details of both traditional exegesis and Cleanness`s poetic retelling reveals a more modulated bird. The more complex (and, I will argue, essentially useful) figure that emerges is not only of interest in its own right but also a key to understanding the richly suggestive relationship between Noah`s anger and God`s.