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A Summary and Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Raven’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘Why is a raven like a writing desk?’ This was the riddle posed by the Mad Hatter in Lewis Carroll ’s 1865 book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland . Probably the most famous solution proposed to this riddle (for the riddle has never been answered with a definitive solution) is: ‘Because Poe wrote on both.’ ‘The Raven’ is undoubtedly Edgar Allan Poe’s most famous poem.

It was first published under Poe’s name in January 1845, and has been popular ever since. It is the only literary work to inspire the name of a sporting team (the American Football team the Baltimore Ravens).

According to Poe himself, in a later work of literary analysis, if he hadn’t had a change of heart we might well be reading a poem called, not ‘The Raven’, but ‘The Parrot’. The poem is so famous, so widely anthologised, that perhaps a closer analysis of its features and language is necessary to strip away some of our preconceptions about it.

First, here is a summary of the poem.

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 unnamed narrator (we can call him a narrator as ‘The Raven’ just about qualifies as a narrative poem) sits up late one December night, mourning the loss of his beloved, Lenore, when a raven appears at the window and speaks the repeated single word, ‘Nevermore’. The narrator starts to view the raven as some sort of prophet.

Throughout the poem, the narrator sits and ponders the meaning of the raven, and asks it questions, such as whether he will be see his beloved Lenore again in heaven, but the bird simply responds enigmatically each time, ‘Nevermore’. In the end, the narrator demands that the raven leave him alone, but it replies once again, ‘Nevermore.’

The poem ends:

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!

Poe credited two chief literary works in the genesis and composition of ‘The Raven’: he got the idea of the raven from Charles Dickens’s novel Barnaby Rudge (whose title character has a pet raven, Grip – the same name of Dickens’s own pet raven in real life), and he borrowed the metre for his poem from Elizabeth Barrett Browning ’s poem ‘Lady Geraldine’s Courtship’. Here is a stanza from Barrett Browning’s poem:

Dear my friend and fellow-student, I would lean my spirit o’er you: Down the purple of this chamber, tears should scarcely run at will: I am humbled who was humble! Friend,—I bow my head before you! You should lead me to my peasants!—but their faces are too still.

The metre of this poem, and of Poe’s ‘The Raven’, is relatively rare in English-language verse: trochaic octameter. (Trochaic because the stress falls on the first syllable in each foot, so ‘ Dear my friend and fell ow stu dent’, and ‘ Once up on a mid night drear y’; octameter because there are eight feet in each line, so ‘ Once up on a mid night drear y, while I pond ered, weak and wear y’.

But Poe added something to this rhythm, by including internal rhyme in each stanza of ‘The Raven’:

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.”

So although each stanza of ‘The Raven’ is rhymed abcbbb , with the ‘ore’ rhyme being constant throughout the poem, the a and c rhymes are complemented by a mid-line rhyme: dreary/weary , napping/tapping .

This makes ‘The Raven’ the perfect poem for reading aloud on a dark, wintry night – but it also arguably underscores the poem’s focus on speech, and on the talking raven that provides the refrain, and final word, of many of the poem’s stanzas. ‘Nevermore’ rhymes with the dead beloved of the poem’s narrator, Lenore, but it is also an inherently ‘poetic’ turn of phrase to end a poem (or successive stanzas of a poem): compare Hardy’s ‘never again’ , or Edward Thomas’s , or Tennyson’s ‘the days that are no more’ .

The word ‘Nevermore’, like ‘never again’ and ‘no more’, evokes finality, something gone from us that will not be regained: time, our youth, a lost lover. Whether Lenore in ‘The Raven’ is the narrator’s dead beloved – perhaps even his wife – is not spelt out in the poem, leaving us not so much to analyse as to speculate upon that point. But the broader point remains: a door has closed that will not be opened again.

As we mentioned at the beginning of this analysis, there is reason to believe that Poe originally planned to have a parrot, rather than a raven, utter the refrain ‘Nevermore’ in the poem. In his ‘ Philosophy of Composition ’, he wrote that in his mind there ‘arose the idea of a non-reasoning creature capable of speech; and very naturally, a parrot, in the first instance, suggested itself, but was superseded forthwith by a Raven, as equally capable of speech.’

Whether Poe was merely retrospectively having us on, or whether he was being genuine here, the parrot does seem the natural choice for a bird capable of mimicking human speech, and Poe implies that he soon dropped the idea of writing a poem called ‘The Parrot’. Ravens are closely associated with omens and with the dead: it had to be ‘The Raven’.

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5 thoughts on “A Summary and Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Raven’”

Many years ago, my mum had me make a recording reading “The Raven.” And I did the best I could as far as enunciating and pausing, etc. She was teaching art in K-8, and for the older grades she played the tape and they were always silent/enraptured listening and then they were to make a drawing of the Raven, or anything from their imagination inspired by the poem. Usually she did it around Halloween and she got some really interesting illustrations/interpretations.

What an inspiring teacher she must have been, you should be proud of her.

I read that Poe did not earn but a paltry sum for this famous work due to the lack of copyright laws. It is sad how much trauma he suffered throughout his life.

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Understanding The Raven: Expert Poem Analysis

General Education

"The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most well-known poems ever written. It brought its author worldwide fame and has frequently been analyzed, performed, and parodied. But what about this poem makes it so special?

In this guide, we give you a complete overview of "The Raven," discussing everything from the sad stories behind its creation and what is actually going on between the narrator and the raven, to its themes and the poetic devices it uses so effectively.

The Raven Poem: Full Text

Below is the complete text of The Raven poem, written by Edgar Allan Poe and published in 1845. It consists of 18 stanzas and a total of 108 lines.

What Is "The Raven" About?

"The Raven" is a poem about a man who is heartbroken over the recent death of his beloved Lenore. As he passes a lonely December night in his room, a raven taps repeatedly on the door and then the window. The man first thinks the noise is caused by a late night visitor come to disturb him, and he is surprised to find the raven when he opens the window shutter. After being let in, the raven flies to and lands on a bust of Pallas (an ancient Greek goddess of wisdom).

The man is amused by how serious the raven looks, and he begins talking to the raven; however, the bird can only reply by croaking "nevermore."

The man reflects aloud that the bird will leave him soon as all the people he cared about have left him. When the raven replies "nevermore," the man takes it as the bird agreeing with him, although it's unclear if the raven actually understands what the man is saying or is just speaking the one word it knows.

As the man continues to converse with the bird, he slowly loses his grip on reality. He moves his chair directly in front of the raven and asks it despairing questions, including whether he and Lenore will be reunited in heaven. Now, instead of being merely amused by the bird, he takes the raven's repeated "nevermore" response as a sign that all his dark thoughts are true. He eventually grows angry and shrieks at the raven, calling it a devil and a thing of evil.

The poem ends with the raven still sitting on the bust of Pallas and the narrator, seemingly defeated by his grief and madness, declaring that his soul shall be lifted "nevermore."

Background on "The Raven"

Edgar Allan Poe wrote "The Raven" during a difficult period in his life. His wife, Virginia, was suffering from tuberculosis, Poe was struggling to make money as an unknown writer, and he began drinking heavily and picking fights with coworkers and other writers. It's easy to see how he could have conjured the dark and melancholy mood of "The Raven."

It's not known how long Poe spent writing "The Raven," (guesses range from anywhere to a single day to over a decade) but it's thought most likely that he wrote the poem in the summer of 1844. In his essay, "The Philosophy of Composition," Poe stated that he chose to focus the poem on the death of a beautiful woman because it is "unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world." He hoped "The Raven" would make him famous, and, in the same essay, stated that he purposely wrote the poem to appeal to both "the popular and the critical taste."

"The Raven" was published in the newspaper The New York Evening Mirror on January 29, 1845 (depending on the source, Poe was paid either $9 or $15 for it). "The Raven" brought Poe instant fame, although not the financial security he was looking for. Critical reception was mixed, with some famous writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and William Butler Yeats expressing their dislike for the poem. Despite those initial mixed reviews, The Raven poem has continued its popularity and is now one of the most well-known poems in the world. Countless parodies have been written, and the poem has been referenced in everything from The Simpsons to the NFL team the Baltimore Ravens (their mascot is even named "Poe").

Major Themes in "The Raven"

From The Raven summary, we know it's definitely a melancholy poem, and most of its themes revolve around grim topics. Here are three of the most important themes.

Theme 1: Grief

Grief is the overwhelming emotion in "The Raven, " and the narrator is absolutely consumed by his grief for his lost love, Lenore. At the beginning of the poem, he tries to distract himself from his sadness by reading a "volume of forgotten lore", but when the raven arrives, he immediately begins peppering it with questions about Lenore and becomes further lost in his grief at the raven's response of "nevermore." By the end of the poem, the narrator is seemingly broken, stating that his soul will never again be "lifted" due to his sadness.

Poe stated that the raven itself was a symbol of grief, specifically, that it represented "mournful and never-ending remembrance." He purposely chose a raven over a parrot (a bird species better known for its ability to speak) because he thought a raven suited the dark tone of the poem better.

Edgar Allan Poe had experienced a great deal of grief by the time he wrote "The Raven," and he had seen people close to him leave, fall gravely ill, or die. He would have been well aware of the consuming power that grief can have and how it has the ability to blot everything else out.

Theme 2: Devotion

It's the narrator's deep love for Lenore that causes him such grief, and later rage and madness. Even though Lenore has died, the narrator still loves her and appears unable to think of anything but her. In the poem, he speaks of Lenore in superlatives, calling her "sainted" and "radiant." In his mind, she is completely perfect, practically a saint. His love for this woman who is no longer here distracts him from everything in his current life. With this theme, Poe is showing the power of love and how it can continue to be powerful even after death.

Theme 3: Rationality vs Irrationality

At the beginning of the poem, the narrator is rational enough to understand that Lenore is dead and he will not see her again. When the raven first begins repeating "nevermore," he realizes that the answer is the bird's "only stock and store," and he won't get another response no matter what he asks. He seems to even find the bird vaguely amusing.

However, as the poem continues, the narrator's irrationality increases as he asks the raven questions it couldn't possibly know and takes its repeated response of "nevermore" to be a truthful and logical answer. He then descends further into madness, cursing the bird as a "devil" and "thing of evil" and thinking he feels angels surrounding him before sinking into his grief. He has clearly come undone by the end of the poem.

In "The Raven," Poe wanted to show the fine line between rational thought and madness and how strong emotions, such as grief, can push a person into irrationality, even during mundane interactions like the one the narrator had with the raven.

The 7 Key Poetic Devices "The Raven" Uses

Edgar Allan Poe makes use of many poetic devices in "The Raven" to create a memorable and moving piece of writing. Below we discuss seven of the most important of these devices and how they contribute to the poem.

Alliteration

An allusion is an indirect reference to something, and Poe makes multiple allusions in "The Raven." Some key ones include:

The bust of Pallas the raven sits on refers to Pallas Athena, the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom.

Nepenthe is a drug mentioned in Homer's ancient epic The Odyssey, and it is purported to erase memories.

The Balm of Gilead is a reference to a healing cream mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah in the Bible.

Aidenn refers to the Garden of Eden, although the narrator likely uses it to mean "heaven" in general, as he wants to know if that's where he and Lenore will reunite.

Ravens themselves are mentioned in many stories, including Norse mythology and Ovid's epic poem Metamorphoses.

The majority of "The Raven" follows trochaic octameter, which is when there are eight trochaic feet per line, and each foot has one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable.

However, Poe actually used several types of meter, and he is said to have based both the meter and rhyming pattern of "The Raven" off Elizabeth Barrett's poem " Lady Geraldine's Courtship." Meter is very prominent in "The Raven," and, along with other poetic devices, helps make it such a popular poem to recite.

The rhyming pattern in "The Raven" follows the pattern ABCBBB. The "B" lines all rhyme with "nevermore" and place additional emphasis on the final syllable of the line.

There is also quite a bit of internal rhyme within the poem, such as the line "But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token," where "unbroken" rhymes with "token."

Internal rhyming occurs in the first line of each stanza. It also occurs in the third line and part of the fourth line of each stanza. In the example "Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!/Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my door!" "token" and "spoken" in the third line of the stanza rhyme with "unbroken" in the fourth line of the stanza.

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is when the name of a word is associated with the sound it makes, and it occurs throughout "The Raven," such as with the words "rapping," "tapping," "shrieked," and "whispered." It all helps add to the atmospheric quality of the poem and makes readers feel as though they are really in the room with the narrator and the raven.

What's Next?

"Ozymandias" by Percy Shelley is another famous and often-studied poem. Learn all about this poem and its famous line "look on my works, ye mighty, and despair" in our complete guide to Ozymandias .

There are many more poetic devices than those included in "The Raven." Read our guide on the 20 poetic devices you need to know so you can become an expert.

Taking AP Literature? We've got you covered! In our expert guide to the AP Literature exam, we've compiled all the information you need to know about the test and how to study for it to get a top score.

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Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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“The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe: Poem Analysis Essay

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Introduction

Works cited.

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe tells a story of maddening grief and the inability to cope with losing a loved one. The poem’s protagonist, who remains unnamed, is gripped by reading, trying to distract himself from the death of the woman he loved, Lenore. On a dreary December night, he hears knocking on a door and goes to open it, expecting a late visitor.

There is no one behind the door, only the echo of the speaker’s own utterance. The knocking continues immediately on the window. Expecting the sound to be caused by the wind, the speaker opens the window, through which a raven flies into the room. Relieved, the host jokingly asks the bird for its name. The raven replies: “Nevermore.” The speaker is in shock, trying to converse with the creature. His attempts at the communication end in futility, and he banishes the raven into the night. Poe’s paramount poem excels due to its ominous tone, unique composition, stark imagery, and rich figurative language.

The poem is riddled with mystery, thrill, grief, and slight inclusions of horror. The subject matter largely determines the tone of the text. Poe pictures a character consumed by grief, which is evident in the second stanza: “From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore” (19). Opening the door and finding no one knocking, he whispers the woman’s name into the darkness of wintery midnight. The speaker’s madness seeps onto the pages, made apparent by the constant line repetition. Additionally, the author describes the occurrence as a mystery in the sixth stanza (Poe et al. 20). The poem’s mystery and thrill are progressive, growing as the conversation between the speaker and the raven continues.

The poem’s unique rhythm adds to the never-ending sense of grief. The rhyme usually falls on the sound -or, as seen in the repeating words “Lenore,” “Nevermore,” and “forevermore” (Poe et al. 19-23). The author utilizes the trochaic octameter, a compositional pattern that alternates the stress every sixteen syllables. However, this composition does not dictate the entirety of the poem’s rhythm. In fact, each stanza ends abruptly on a stressed sound -or. By mixing the approach to composition, Poe achieves an effective way to reflect the perpetuating feeling of sorrow through literary composition.

The poem uses stark imagery to convey the tone and theme of grief further. The text has three primary images: the raven, the chamber, and the bust of Athena. The raven represents the finality of Lenore’s existence. By constantly repeating “Nevermore,” the raven communicates that the speaker’s love is forever gone, breaking his inner desire for Lenore’s return from the underworld. The connection to the underworld is also apparent through the words “Night’s Plutonian shore,” as Pluto is the ancient Roman god of the said realm (Poe et al. 21). The image of Athena’s bust strengthens the link to the mythological inspiration behind the text. The bird sits on the wisdom goddess’s statue, representing how grief poisons the speaker’s rational mind. Finally, the chamber represents the mental prison grief that drove the protagonist to. He is trapped externally, locked off in the chamber, and internally, never letting go of the lament.

Figurative Language

The poem’s imagery is inseparable from its figurative language. The poem’s primary figurative vehicle is symbolism, as the major images of the poem signify something beyond themselves (Syafitri and Marlinton 48). For example, the raven is a manifestation of the protagonist’s grief, whereas the bust of Athena symbolizes his rationality and clarity of mind. These symbols, however, can refer to numerous meanings beyond themselves due to their complexity. For instance, the chamber can be interpreted as a prison or a shelter that shields the protagonist from the reality of death. Conversely, it can be argued that it signifies the speaker’s rationality, much like the goddess’s bust.

Additionally, the author employs multiple allusions to Greek, Roman, and Christian mythology. As discussed above, the image of Athena and the raven’s connection to Pluto clearly refer to the mythos outside the poem’s realm. The link to Christianity is observed in the depiction of Lenore’s afterlife and allusions to the Garden of Eden: “Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn/ It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore” (Poe et al. 23). References to Christianity also include the mention of Gilead, a place in Palestine significant to the biblical story.

In conclusion, The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe is a masterfully crafted story about never-ending grief for a death of a loved one. The author employs dark and mysterious images to convey the overflowing sorrow of the protagonist. The raven, the bust of Athena, and the speaker’s chamber are the focal symbols of the poem, representing a perpetual struggle to escape anguish. The poem’s ominous, mysterious, and slightly nightmarish tone is emphasized by its language and structure. Stuck in the everlasting cycle of sorrow, the protagonist never stops lamenting, thus he remains haunted by the raven.

Poe, Edgar Allan, et al. The Raven . Harper & Brothers, 1884. Web.

Syafitri, Dewi, and Melisa Marlinton. “An analysis of figurative language used in Edgar Allan Poe’s poems.” Linguistic, English Education and Art Journal 2.1, 2018: 43-59.

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By Edgar Allan Poe

‘The Raven’ by Edgar Allan Poe presents an eerie raven who incessantly knocks over the speaker’s door and says only one word – “Nevermore.”

Edgar Allan Poe

Nationality: American

His work during the 19th century defined multiple genres .

Key Poem Information

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Central Message: Grief can lead to madness.

Themes: Death , Journey , Spirituality

Speaker: A man grieving the loss of Lenore.

Emotions Evoked: Dishonesty , Fear , Grief

Poetic Form: Narrative

Time Period: 19th Century

This poem is a haunting and melancholic poem that explores themes of grief, loss, and mortality. It showcases Edgar Allan Poe's skillful use of language.

This popular narrative poem is written in the first person . ‘ The Raven ‘ personifies the feeling of intense grief and loss, while other symbols throughout the poem reinforce a melodramatic mood that emphasizes the main character’s grief and loss. ‘ The Raven’ explores the world of emotional wars that individuals face in all walks of life, specifically, the fight one can never ignore, the fight for control over the emotions of grief and loss.

These battles are not physical but leave scarring and bruising just as if they were. Poe has produced a wonderful work that resonates with the feelings and experiences of every reader who comes across this poem.

It's helpful to know that 'The Raven' is Poe's best-known and most commonly studied poem to better understand this poem. It's filled with examples of the themes and symbols he was most interested in and, many readers think, allusions to his personal life and experiences with loss and grief.

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Explore The Raven

• 3 Structure and Form 
• 4 Literary Devices
• 5 Detailed Analysis
• 6 Similar Poetry

‘ The Raven ‘ by Edgar Allan Poe ( Bio | Poems ) is a dark and mysterious poem in which the speaker converses with a raven.

Throughout the poem, the poet uses repetition to emphasize the mysterious knocking in the speaker’s home in the middle of a cold December evening. The speaker tries to ignore it and convince himself that there’s no one there. But, eventually, he opens the door and looks into the darkness, wondering if it could be his beloved, Lenore, returned to him. No one is there, but a raven does fly into his room. It speaks to him, using only the word “Nevermore.” This is its response to everything the speaker asks of it.

Finally, the speaker decides that angels have caused the air to fill in density and wonders if they’re there to relieve him of his pain. The bird answers, “Nevermore,” and it appears the speaker will live forever in the shadow of the bust of Pallas above his door.

The Poem Analysis Take

Expert Insights by Emma Baldwin

B.A. English (Minor: Creative Writing), B.F.A. Fine Art, B.A. Art Histories

This is a famous narrative poem that is narrated by a grieving man who is visited by a raven in the middle of the night. The raven perches on the bust of Pallas Athena, a clear symbol of wisdom, and speaks the single word "Nevermore" in response to all of the narrator 's questions. The raven itself becomes an important symbol of death and mourning.

In  ‘The Raven,’  Poe engages themes that include death and the afterlife. These two are the most common themes used throughout Poe’s oeuvre . These themes are accompanied by memory, loss, and the supernatural. Throughout the piece, the reader feels that something terrible is about to happen or has just happened to the speaker and those around him.

These themes are all emphasized by the speaker’s loneliness. He’s alone in his home on a cold evening, trying to ignore the “rapping” on his chamber door. By the end, it appears that he will live forever in the shadow of death and sorrow.

Structure and Form  

‘The Raven’  by Edgar Allan Poe ( Bio | Poems ) is a ballad of eighteen six-line stanzas . Throughout, the poet uses trochaic octameter , a very distinctive metrical form. He uses the first-person point of view and a consistent rhyme scheme of ABCBBB. There are a large number of words that use the same ending, for example, the “ore” in “Lenore” and “Nevermore.” Epistrophe , or repeating the same word at the end of multiple lines, is also present.

The meter is particularly interesting, contributing heavily to the atmospheric nature of the poem. With the poem, you’ll see that lines 1 and 3 of each stanza are usually strict trochaic octameter, whilst lines with the ‘B’ rhyme scheme are seven and a half syllable pairs. This places emphasis on the syllable missing a pair, which is always an ‘ore’ sounding end rhyme .

The ‘odd line’ out, if you should so call it, comes with the end of each stanza, where there are only three and a half syllable pairs, always finishing on the ‘more’ rhyme. This creates a haunting narrative to the poem, that each stanza always ends up the same way, whilst the break in the structure of the stanza to something much shorter further emphasizes, what can be considered, the most important sentence in the poem: Nevermore.

All in all, the meter creates a musicality that Poe emphasizes with slight variations to further emphasize the ‘Nevermore’ and the eery nature of the poem whilst trying to engross the reader, almost hypnotically.

Literary Devices

Poe makes use of several literary devices in  ‘The Raven.’  These include but are not limited to repetition, alliteration , and caesura . The latter is a formal device that occurs when the poet inserts a pause, whether through meter or punctuation, into the middle of a line. For example, line three of the first stanza. It reads: “While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping.” There are numerous other examples, for instance, in line three of the second stanza which reads: “Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow.”

Alliteration is one kind of repetition used in  ‘The Raven.’  It occurs when the poet repeats the same consonant sound at the beginning of multiple words. For example, “weak and weary” is in the first line of the poem, and “soul” and “stronger” are in the first line of the fourth stanza.

Throughout, Poe uses repetition more broadly as well. For example, he uses parallelism in line structure, wording, and punctuation. He also maintains a repetitive rhythm throughout the poem with his meter and rhyme scheme.

Detailed Analysis

First stanza.

    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 opening line of this poem proves to be quite theatrical, initiating with the classic “once upon a -” and introducing a typical melodramatic, “weak and weary” character who is lost in thought during a particularly boring night. He claims to be thinking and “pondering” over volumes of old knowledge traditions. He is interrupted by a tapping sound as he nods off to sleep while reading. It sounds like someone is “gently” knocking on his “chamber door.” He mutters that it must be a visitor since what else could it possibly be?

The first stanza of Poe’s ‘ The Raven ‘ exposes a story that the reader knows will be full of drama . The imagery in this stanza alone gives the reader a very good idea that the story about to unfold is not happy.

The scene opens on a “dreary” or boring midnight and a “weak and weary” character. The quiet midnight paints a picture of mystery and suspense for the reader, while an already tired and exhausted character introduces a tired and emotionally exhausting story – as we later learn that the character has suffered a great deal before this poem even begins. To further highlight his fatigued mood, he even reads “forgotten lore,” which is old myths / folklore that were studied by scholars (so we assume the character is a scholar/student of sorts).

The words “forgotten” and ‘nothing more’ here sneak in the theme of loss prevalent in this poem. We are also introduced to our first symbol: the chamber door, which symbolizes insecurity. The chamber door functions as any door would; opening the characters’ room/home to the outside world, and we will notice that it also represents the character’s insecurities and weaknesses as he opens them up to the world outside of him. In this stanza, something is coming and “tapping” at his insecurities and weaknesses (the chamber door) due to him pondering and getting lost in thought.

Second Stanza

    Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December; And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.     Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow     From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore— For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—             Nameless  here  for evermore.

We are quickly jolted from the scene of the stranger knocking at the door into the speaker’s thoughts. Here, he pauses to educate the reader that this sight was taking place during the “bleak” December when “dying” embers from a fire were casting “ghosts” like shadows on the floor. He wished for the night to pass faster, desperately trying to escape the sadness of losing Lenore by busying himself with his books. It becomes very obvious that Lenore was someone important to him, as he describes her as a “rare and radiant maiden,” it also becomes evident that she had died since she was now “nameless always” in the world.

The air of suspense continues to build as Poe shifts the narrative from the tapping on the door to the character’s thoughts. This could also portray that the character himself is avoiding answering the door. Looking at the door symbolizing his weaknesses and insecurities, we can easily understand why he would want to avoid opening up to whatever was tapping on it. The diction in this stanza (bleak, separate, dying, ghost, sought, sorrow, and lost) also emphasizes the theme of loss that unfolds in this poem. We can see that Poe is already hinting to the readers about the cause of the characters’ insecurities.

The second line in this stanza also foreshadows the poem’s end as it illustrates dying “embers” casting shadows on the floor; it portrays how trapped the character will be in the shadows of loss. What exactly has he lost? We find that the character is pining for Lenore, a woman who was very dear to him (a girlfriend or wife perhaps), whom he can no longer be with as she has died and is in the company of angels. She becomes “nameless” (again underlining the theme of loss) to him because she does not exist in his world anymore. For him, she is forever lost.

Third Stanza

    And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;     So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating     “’Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door— Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;—             This it is and nothing more.”

The movement of the curtains even seems “sad” and “uncertain” to him. Watching these curtains rustle and listening to the knocking was turning his miserable and quiet mood into one of anxiety and fear. To calm himself and his quickening heartbeat, he repeated that it was just some visitor who had come to see him in these late hours and “nothing more.”

Poe provides details of the room and its belongings throughout the poem that observably symbolize the character’s feelings. This stanza focuses on the emotional state of the character. The purple curtains can easily represent his healing wounds (as purple is the color of a bruise in the beginning stages of recovery), and they are described as sad and uncertain. From this, we can note that Lenore’s loss has left him feeling exactly that: sad and uncertain. This bruise of his “thrilled” him because it opened the door to thoughts and feelings the character had never ventured. As he thought about opening the door of insecurities to whatever was knocking at them, he became excited and terrified simultaneously. To calm his fears, he repeats to himself that he’s sure nothing will come out of it.

Fourth Stanza

    Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer, “Sir,” said I, “or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;     But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,     And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door, That I scarce was sure I heard you”—here I opened wide the door;—             Darkness there and nothing more.

The character begins to build confidence as he draws closer to the door to see who would come to see him at such an hour. He calls out saying sorry, ‘Sir’ or ‘Madame’. He had been napping, and the ‘tapping’ at the door was so light that he wasn’t even sure that there was someone knocking at the door at first. As he says this, he opens the door only to find nothing but the darkness of the night.

As he prepares to open the door of his insecurities and weaknesses to whatever awaits, he has to push through his hesitation. He called out, saying he wasn’t sure whether there was anything there, so he hadn’t bothered to open the door, and when he finally did, he found nothing.

The suspense is heightened after finding nothing but darkness. The reader understands that the character found nothing but darkness waiting for him through his insecurities and weaknesses, a black hole. This is not different from what anyone would find when they look internally and finally decide to open up and see through all the things that make them think less of themselves; they find a world of darkness (suffering and difficulty). It is difficult to look into yourself and your uncertainties to recognize your suffering and hardships. The character does not find it easy either.

Fifth Stanza

    Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;     But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,     And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, “Lenore?” This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, “Lenore!”—             Merely this and nothing more.

Finding nothing on the other side of the door leaves him stunned. He stands there staring into the darkness with his mind racing. How could he have heard the clear, continuous knocking at the door only to find nothing…physical? Now, she quickly comes to mind because he had been pining for Lenore. He whispers her name into the empty night, ‘Lenore?’ and an echo whispers back, ‘Lenore!’.

Poe emphasizes how stunned the character is at looking into the hardships and suffering of his life (the darkness) through the wide-opened door of his insecurity (the chamber door) by stating that he began to doubt himself and his expectations of what he would find. He expected to find a visitor ( sympathy) but instead found empty darkness ( suffering). The character finally makes a bold move; he utters what facing the suffering forced him to think of: Lenore. To his surprise, from his suffering came a voice saying Lenore and nothing more. This exposes that the sole core of his suffering was truly Lenore, and he had to open that door of his self-doubt and weakness to figure it out.

Sixth Stanza

    Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning, Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.     “Surely,” said I, “surely that is something at my window lattice;       Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore— Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;—             ’Tis the wind and nothing more!”

The narrator finally turns away from the empty doorway, full of fire; he had just heard her name whispered back to him. Was he insane? Was any of this real? ‘Soon again,’ he hears tapping; this time louder than before,, it gives the impression that it is coming from the window this time. Again, his heart starts to beat faster as he moves towards the window, wanting to “explore” this mystery. He tells himself it must be the wind and ‘nothing more.’

The character finally snaps out of his shock and closes the door. He realizes his fears to be true. The one thing he has no control over is the only thing causing him weakness: the loss of Lenore. Then he hears a tapping by the window, and this window represents realization for our character. He has now realized his fear through his weaknesses and suffering that he will forever have to live with the fact that he has lost Lenore. He is hesitant to embrace the realization (he hesitates to open the window), but he now wants to explore this newfound awareness.

Seventh Stanza

    Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter, In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore;     Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;     But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door— Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door—             Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

He makes an effort to fling open the window, and with a little commotion comes a raven. The narrator describes the raven as one who looked rather royal and like it belonged in the righteous or impressive times of the past. The raven does not even acknowledge the speaker, and he flies in with the airs of an aristocrat and rests on the statue above the chamber door of “Pallas” (also known as Athena, the goddess of wisdom). Then, it just sits there doing “nothing more.”

The raven comes flying in when the character embraces the realization of the cause of his insecurity (opens the window). The raven is the most important symbol in this poem, which explains the title. This raven is signifying the loss that the character has suffered. Through the window of realization, his loss comes flying in to face him. The raven is described as grand in its demeanor, much like the loss of Lenore, which intimidates him. He is quite fascinated by it and glorifies it. The interesting thing to note here is that the raven takes a seat on the statue of Pallas (Athena, goddess of wisdom), which discloses to the reader that this feeling of loss and grief that the character is feeling is sitting on his wisdom. It has overpowered his rational thought.

Eighth Stanza

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling, By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore, “Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,” I said, “art sure no craven, Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore— Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!”             Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

The entrance of this raven puts a smile on the face of the narrator. The bird was so out of place in his chamber, but it still “wore” a serious expression as it sat there. The speaker then turns to treat the raven as a noble individual and asks him his name in a very dramatic manner. The raven replies with ‘nevermore’.

When given the chance to face his loss and grief so directly, it seems amusing to the character. So he speaks to the bird. He asks its (the bird/his grief) name, as it looked grand and uncowardly even though it came from the world of suffering (the night). The raven spoke and said “nevermore”. His feelings of grief and loss (the raven) are reminding him of his greatest pain: nevermore. The raven speaks to him clearly and relays to him that what he had the deepest desire for in his life is now strictly nevermore.

Ninth Stanza

    Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly, Though its answer little meaning—little relevancy bore;     For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being     Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door— Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,             With such name as “Nevermore.”

The narrator is shocked at actually hearing the raven speak, as if it were natural for him. He doesn’t understand how “nevermore” answers the question. So he claims that no one, alive or dead, has ever witnessed the scene before him: a raven sitting on a statue of Pallas named “nevermore.”

Here, Poe uncovers for his readers that the character was shocked at the scene of facing his loss and grief only to have it so blatantly speak to him. Call to him the reason for his insecurity and weakness: the finality of “nevermore.” The character claims in this stanza that no one has ever before been able to have the experience of meeting loss and grief in physical form. He was “blessed” with this opportunity to see his feelings and put a name on it: nevermore. That is the core of his grief and loss, the finality of never living with Lenore again.

Tenth Stanza

    But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.     Nothing farther then he uttered—not a feather then he fluttered—     Till I scarcely more than muttered “Other friends have flown before— On the morrow  he  will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before.”             Then the bird said “Nevermore.”

After speaking that one word, the raven did not utter another word. He sat there on the statue, very still and quiet. The narrator returns to his grim mood and mutters about having friends who have left him feeling abandoned, just like this bird will likely do. On hearing this, the bird again says:

The character accepts the existence of this raven in his life and says he expects it to leave as others usually do. This signifies the reality of his emotions that he feels just like all other feelings come and go, and so will this feeling of intense grief and loss (the raven). The raven speaks out and states: Nevermore. He is highlighting and foreshadowing that it will not leave – it will stay with the character forever.

Eleventh Stanza

    Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken, “Doubtless,” said I, “what it utters is its only stock and store     Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster     Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore— Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore             Of ‘Never—nevermore’.”

The sudden reply from the raven startles the narrator. He concludes that the raven only knows this one word that it has learned from “some unhappy master.” He imagines that the master of this raven must have been through many hardships,, so he probably always used the word “nevermore” a great deal, and that is where he believes the bird picked it up.

This stanza is quite interesting as it explores the character’s efforts to ignore the finality of this feeling of grief and loss. He tries to brush it off by hoping that perhaps the previous owner of such feelings was a person who emphasized the finality of such feelings, so that is why his grief is responding in such a manner. The thought of living with such feelings forever scares the character into denial.

Twelfth Stanza

    But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling, Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;     Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking     Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore— What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore             Meant in croaking “Nevermore.”

The speaker admits that he cannot help but be fascinated by this raven. He sets up his chair to sit right in front of the bird, watching it intently. He starts focusing on the raven and what it could mean by repeating the specific word “nevermore.”

Here, the character is irritated by the constant presence of such strong feelings. He knows he cannot turn back now. The character is the one who opened the door of his insecurities and weaknesses into his suffering and then opened the window of realization to allow this intense feeling of loss and grief to enter and perch on his rational thinking/wisdom. What he finds hard to swallow is the concept of “nevermore” – why can’t these feelings be temporary or a phase? Must they eat at him forever?

Thirteenth Stanza

    This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom’s core;     This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining     On the cushion’s velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o’er, But whose velvet-violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o’er,              She  shall press, ah, nevermore!

He sits there coming up with theories to explain the raven and its behavior to himself without speaking aloud in this bird’s company. Even so, he felt its “fiery eyes” could see through him, straight to his heart. So he continues to ponder and be lost in thought as he reclines on a soft velvet cushion that the lamplight was highlighting in the room. Seeing the cushion gleaming in the lamplight sends him spiraling into the heart-wrenching reminder that Lenore will never get a chance to touch that cushion again now that she’s gone.

Poe underlines that the character has so much more feeling than he tackles when he confronts his grief. As he contemplates the concreteness of the words “nevermore,” he relapses into memories of Lenore. The cushion symbolizes his connection to his physical life. As he battles with his emotions, the cushion reminds him that his beloved Lenore will never share his physical space and life again. She will never, again, physically be in his company.

Fourteenth Stanza

    Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.     “Wretch,” I cried, “thy God hath lent thee—by these angels he hath sent thee     Respite—respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore; Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!”             Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

Here, the narrator seems to start hallucinating, and perhaps he is too deep in his thoughts. He starts to feel like the air around him is getting thicker with perfume or a scent. He thinks he sees angels there who are bringing this perfume /scent to him. He calls himself a wretch because he feels God is sending him a message to forget Lenore, comparing the scent to “nepenthe,” an imaginary medicine for sorrow from ancient Greek mythology . He yells at himself to drink this medicine and forget the sadness he feels for the loss of Lenore. Almost as if on cue, the raven says: Nevermore.

When he comes to the actual realization that he has lost her physical body forever, he begins to panic. He can smell the sweetness of freedom from these feelings that God was allowing him. He thought that it was a divine message to forget Lenore, and he wants to accept; he wants out and away from his mess of feelings, especially from the certainty the grief keeps claiming that it will last forever. He tries to force himself to let it go, but then the raven speaks. His grief overpowers him, and he still claims that he will never forget her.

Fifteenth Stanza

    “Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!— Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,     Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted—     On this home by Horror haunted—tell me truly, I implore— Is there— is  there balm in Gilead?—tell me—tell me, I implore!”             Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

Now things get pretty heated as he starts to scream at the bird, calling it a prophet and a thing of evil. He doesn’t know what to think of the bird. Did Satan (the tempter) send this bird his way, or did a storm push this bird his way? He continues by saying that even through his shouting, the raven is unmoved/unbothered even though it is alone in his company. He calls his home a desert land, haunted and full of horror , and asks the raven if there is possible hope of any good or peace in the future, and of course, the raven says: nevermore.

Things get more serious in this stanza as the character loses his cool and screams at his emotions. He calls them a prophet because they are prophesizing his unhappy life and a thing of evil because of the pain they are causing him. He doesn’t understand where such permanence has come from in his grief and loss. Shouldn’t they be a feeling of phase and pass after some time? Why is his feeling here to stay forever? He asks in his panic whether anything good is waiting for him in life. Will the intensity of such feelings pass? It seems his feelings of grief and loss are set in stone because it just replies with a “nevermore.”

Sixteenth Stanza

    “Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil! By that Heaven that bends above us—by that God we both adore—     Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,     It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore— Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore.”             Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

He continues to call the raven a prophet and a thing of evil as he dramatically keeps accepting the word of the raven as the answer to his questions. He then asks for the raven to tell him if he will ever get to hold Lenore again, and predictably, the raven says: nevermore.

The character is spiraling into chaos as he realizes he is stuck in this pain and no relief is coming. In desperation, he asks whether he will ever hold and embrace his beloved Lenore ever again. The raven crushes him further by saying no. His feeling of loss intensifies as his grief reaffirms for him that the life he had wanted can never be his to have and cherish.

Seventeenth Stanza

    “Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I shrieked, upstarting— “Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!     Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!     Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my door! Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!”             Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

The raven’s answers throw the narrator into a fit as he is consumed by sorrow. He screams at the raven to leave and return to the storm it came from and not even leave a trace of it being present in his chamber. He wants to live in his loneliness without accepting the reality of it. He does not want anything to do with the answers that the bird has given him. He continues to yell at the bird to leave, and the raven simply replies with: nevermore (implying that it will not go).

At this point in the story, the character is consumed by his emotions and the mental game he’s playing. He screams and cries for his loneliness to stay unbroken because he realizes that he is no longer alone; these emotions and feelings he has unearthed will continue to haunt him and live with him forever. He yells at these feelings to escape his wisdom and rational thinking. He pleads for this feeling of intense grief and loss to take the sharp pain away that he is feeling, and, of course, as the reader knows for certain by now, the answer is “Nevermore.”

Eighteenth Stanza

    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 speaker ends his story by saying that the raven is still there, sitting on the statue of Pallas, almost demon-like in the way its eyes gleam. The lamplight hits the raven, casting a shadow on the floor. That shadow has trapped his soul within it, and he will never be freed from it.

Edgar Allan Poe ( Bio | Poems ) ends his narrative with a quiet and still character. Quite a change from the last stanzas; it is almost as if he has come to terms with the reality of the situation. It is as if we are now watching the character from the outside of his head while all the commotion occursinternally. However, the character lets the reader know that everything is not going well. The raven still sits on the statue of Pallas, which looks demon-like while casting a shadow that traps him forever.

That is significant because it gives the reader closure . It tells the reader that even though the character welcomed the feelings of loss and grief when he opened the window of realization, he despises them now. These emotions appear to him as demonic. The shadow they cast over him, meaning the mood created from these feelings, has a permanent hold on his soul. His feelings have defeated him after facing them, and he will find peace: nevermore.

Similar Poetry

Readers who enjoyed ‘ The Raven’  should also consider reading some of Poe’s other best-known poems . For example:

• ‘ A Dream within a Dream, ‘ – published in 1849, this poem examines time and our perceptions of it.
• ‘ Alone’ – is a haunting poem that touches on many of Poe’s favorite themes. It was inspired by the death of Poe’s foster mother.
• ‘ Anabel Lee ‘  – a beautiful short piece in which Poe’s speaker describes the death of a young woman, taken into the afterlife by jealous angels.

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sorry, though your comments is wonderful. I still have some questions about The Raven represents . the death or the sadness? I want to finish my homework well. but it is difficult for me to analysis.

I think both. Remember, words and symbols can have multiple connotations.

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Rehman, Noor. "The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe". Poem Analysis , https://poemanalysis.com/edgar-allan-poe/the-raven/ . Accessed 25 August 2024.

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Edgar Allan Poe’s, “The Raven,”

Respond to Edgar Allan Poe’s, “The Raven,” by answering the following writing prompt in an argumentative essay

Prompt: For this essay, you will craft a 3-paragraph response that answers the following question: Is the Raven in Edgar Allan’s Poe’s, “The Raven,” real or imaginary? Use evidence from the poem and your own thinking to support your answer. This essay should explore how the different elements of the poem (setting, mood, imagery, symbolism) and the speaker’s word choice all contribute to the existence or nonexistence of the poem.

The Raven: An Argumentative Essay

As a renowned poet in the 19 th Century, Edgar Allan Poe, is an acclaimed poet who managed to infuse imagery into his poems. None is more vivid of his use of imagery than “The Raven,”; a poem Poe wrote in 1845. In The Raven , Poe paints a grim picture following a man seated alone on an old velvet chair in a dark room covered with purple silk curtains mourning over the loss of his love, Lenore. The man hears a knocking on the window that keeps increasing with each knock. Frustrated, the man opens the window, letting in the raven that perches on a side in the room, and he goes on to have a conversation with it. This furthers my argument on the poem. I believe that the raven is not real, rather, a figment of his imagination. Firstly, the raven cannot be real because no raven in the history of the world has ever talked. Secondly, because of the man’s loss of his love, Lenore, his mind is delusional; hence, he believes that he is taking to the raven. Lastly, furthering his delusion, the man hears a “knocking” by the window than the door, making the raven impossible to be real, rather imaginary.

Firstly, the raven is a point of imagination from the man’s mind because no raven in history has ever talked. Quoting the poem, “…deep in the darkness peering… an echo murmured back the word ‘Lenore’” shows that the man’s imagination and his loss leads him to exude a character to converse with to help calm him. Loss can make one delusional to the point that a person can bring innate objects to life and grant them human characteristics like the raven talking.

Secondly, the raven is not real as it cannot knock. For a knock to happen, one has to cringe their hands and use their knuckles to perform the act of knocking. Also, the man’s delusional mind gets him to think of a knocking on a window rather than on a door as it should be. This proves that the raven is not real, rather imaginary. Thirdly, the man lets in the raven instead of chasing it away. This act shows that the man’s delusion has come over him to believe that the raven is real rather than imaginary. The man furthers this when he sits down and talks to the raven as if he would be having a conversation with someone else, where he inquires from the raven, “…tell me what thy lordly name is on the nights plutonium’s shore! Quoth the raven “Nevermore!” The man’s delusion has him conversing with a bird with no ability to mimic or respond; therefore, the raven is not real.

Conclusively, Poe presents a common understanding of how individual’s process loss in the poem to the extent of giving innate objects humanly characteristics. Poe’s symbolism of using a raven as an extension of the man’s imagination shows the grief in the man. Therefore, the raven is not real, rather a figment of the man’s imagination. Taking this into account, the raven as a symbol of human fears depicts that no matter how far we run away from them, an individual’s memories in time of grief remain their constant companion.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — The Raven — Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”: A Summary and Analysis

Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven": a Summary and Analysis

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Published: Jun 13, 2024

Words: 598 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

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Introduction, body paragraph.

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