diff --git a/doc/irc.luadoc b/doc/irc.luadoc
index 5ab1e34..8442cce 100644
--- a/doc/irc.luadoc
+++ b/doc/irc.luadoc
@@ -127,21 +127,20 @@ function irc:shutdown()
 -- @name Connection
 -- @class table
 
---- Class representing an IRC message.  Objects of this class may contain the following fields:
--- <ul>
--- <li><code>tags</code> - A table of IRCv3 tags.</li>
--- <li><code>prefix</code> - Prefix of the message.</li>
--- <li><code>user</code> - A User object describing the sender of the message.</li>
--- <li><code>command</code> - The IRC command.</li>
--- <li><code>args</code> - A list of the command arguments.</li>
--- </ul>
--- Fields may be missing.  The only guarantee is that <code>args</code> is a table.
--- Messages have the following methods:
--- <ul>
--- <li><code>toRFC1459()</code></li>
--- </ul>
+--- Class representing an IRC message.
 -- @name Message
 -- @class table
+-- @field args A list of the command arguments
+-- @field command The IRC command
+-- @field prefix The prefix of the message
+-- @field raw A raw IRC line for this message
+-- @field tags A table of IRCv3 tags
+-- @field user A User object describing the sender of the message
+-- Fields may be missing.
+-- Messages have the following methods:
+-- <ul>
+-- <li><code>toRFC1459()</code> - Returns the message serialized in RFC 1459 format.</li>
+-- </ul>
 
 --- List of hooks you can use with irc:hook.
 -- The parameter list describes the parameters passed to the callback function.
diff --git a/init.lua b/init.lua
index c9f6065..b695c22 100644
--- a/init.lua
+++ b/init.lua
@@ -125,17 +125,17 @@ function meta_preconnect:connect(_host, _port)
 	self.socket = s
 	setmetatable(self, meta)
 
-	self:queue(Message("CAP", {"REQ", "multi-prefix"}))
+	self:queue(Message({command="CAP", args={"REQ", "multi-prefix"}}))
 
 	self:invoke("PreRegister", self)
-	self:queue(Message("CAP", {"END"}))
+	self:queue(Message({command="CAP", args={"END"}}))
 
 	if password then
-		self:queue(Message("PASS", {password}))
+		self:queue(Message({command="PASS", args={password}}))
 	end
 
 	self:queue(msgs.nick(self.nick))
-	self:queue(Message("USER", {self.username, "0", "*", self.realname}))
+	self:queue(Message({command="USER", args={self.username, "0", "*", self.realname}}))
 
 	self.channels = {}
 
@@ -178,9 +178,7 @@ function meta:think()
 		local line = getline(self, 3)
 		if line and #line > 0 then
 			if not self:invoke("OnRaw", line) then
-				local msg = Message()
-				msg:fromRFC1459(line)
-				self:handle(msg)
+				self:handle(Message({raw=line}))
 			end
 		else
 			break
@@ -229,8 +227,7 @@ function meta:whois(nick)
 	while true do
 		local line = getline(self, 3)
 		if line then
-			local msg = Message()
-			msg:fromRFC1249(line)
+			local msg = Message({raw=line})
 
 			local handler = whoisHandlers[msg.command]
 			if handler then
diff --git a/messages.lua b/messages.lua
index 02c6963..cd64c51 100644
--- a/messages.lua
+++ b/messages.lua
@@ -11,11 +11,13 @@ msgs = {}
 local msg_meta = {}
 msg_meta.__index = msg_meta
 
-function Message(cmd, args)
-	return setmetatable({
-		command = cmd,
-		args = args or {},
-	}, msg_meta)
+function Message(opts)
+	opts = opts or {}
+	setmetatable(opts, msg_meta)
+	if opts.raw then
+		opts:fromRFC1459(opts.raw)
+	end
+	return opts
 end
 
 local tag_escapes = {
@@ -108,6 +110,7 @@ function msg_meta:fromRFC1459(line)
 	self.command, pos = line:match("(%S+)()")
 	line = line:sub(pos)
 
+	self.args = self.args or {}
 	for pos, param in line:gmatch("()(%S+)") do
 		if param:sub(1, 1) == ":" then
 			param = line:sub(pos + 1)
@@ -119,15 +122,15 @@ function msg_meta:fromRFC1459(line)
 end
 
 function msgs.privmsg(to, text)
-	return Message("PRIVMSG", {to, text})
+	return Message({command="PRIVMSG", args={to, text}})
 end
 
 function msgs.notice(to, text)
-	return Message("NOTICE", {to, text})
+	return Message({command="NOTICE", args={to, text}})
 end
 
 function msgs.action(to, text)
-	return Message("PRIVMSG", {to, ("\x01ACTION %s\x01"):format(text)})
+	return Message({command="PRIVMSG", args={to, ("\x01ACTION %s\x01"):format(text)}})
 end
 
 function msgs.ctcp(command, to, args)
@@ -136,27 +139,27 @@ function msgs.ctcp(command, to, args)
 		s = ' '..args
 	end
 	s = s..'\x01'
-	return Message("PRIVMSG", {to, s})
+	return Message({command="PRIVMSG", args={to, s}})
 end
 
 function msgs.kick(channel, target, reason)
-	return Message("KICK", {channel, target, reason})
+	return Message({command="KICK", args={channel, target, reason}})
 end
 
 function msgs.join(channel, key)
-	return Message("JOIN", {channel, key})
+	return Message({command="JOIN", args={channel, key}})
 end
 
 function msgs.part(channel, reason)
-	return Message("PART", {channel, reason})
+	return Message({command="PART", args={channel, reason}})
 end
 
 function msgs.quit(reason)
-	return Message("QUIT", {reason})
+	return Message({command="QUIT", args={reason}})
 end
 
 function msgs.kill(target, reason)
-	return Message("KILL", {target, reason})
+	return Message({command="KILL", args={target, reason}})
 end
 
 function msgs.kline(time, mask, reason, operreason)
@@ -166,7 +169,7 @@ function msgs.kline(time, mask, reason, operreason)
 	else
 		args = {mask, reason..'|'..operreason}
 	end
-	return Message("KLINE", args)
+	return Message({command="KLINE", args=args})
 end
 
 function msgs.whois(nick, server)
@@ -176,19 +179,19 @@ function msgs.whois(nick, server)
 	else
 		args = {nick}
 	end
-	return Message("WHOIS", args)
+	return Message({command="WHOIS", args=args})
 end
 
 function msgs.topic(channel, text)
-	return Message("TOPIC", {channel, text})
+	return Message({command="TOPIC", args={channel, text}})
 end
 
 function msgs.invite(channel, target)
-	return Message("INVITE", {channel, target})
+	return Message({command="INVITE", args={channel, target}})
 end
 
 function msgs.nick(nick)
-	return Message("NICK", {nick})
+	return Message({command="NICK", args={nick}})
 end
 
 function msgs.mode(target, modes)
@@ -197,6 +200,6 @@ function msgs.mode(target, modes)
 	--   MODE foo :+ov Nick1 Nick2
 	--   MODE foo +ov Nick1 Nick2
 	local mt = split(modes)
-	return Message("MODE", {target, unpack(mt)})
+	return Message({command="MODE", args={target, unpack(mt)}})
 end