Analysis Of ' The Raven '

By Edgar Allan Poe

Analysis Of Lenore

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe is undoubtedly one of the most famous poems ever written. With its haunting imagery and masterfully crafted suspense, as well as the famous refrain "nevermore", The Raven is mesmerizing, hypnotic, terrifying, exciting, and irresistible. Besides its outstanding sounds and imagery, the secret tothe Raven's persistent and ubiquitous popularity also lies in the universality of the theme with which it deals – namely, the theme of the lost Beloved. At the heart of the plot lies a story of a young man grieving his passed love Lenore. He is falling asleep one night, trying to distract himself from thoughts about her, when he hears a sudden tapping at the door. He opens it, but nobody is there. Soon again he hears a knocking, this time at the window. The Raven flies in, and the Raven is a talking one. With its repeating, never–changing "nevermore," it drives the narrator insane, leading him into the deepest of despair, and enslaves his soul forever. It tells the narrator he will never find comfort from his memories, nor will he ever be reunited with his Beloved in Heaven. But is there really no hope for our poor narrator? Is there perhaps something about how he perceives Lenore that makes it impossible to escape the prison of his own memory?

This essay will answer these questions by analyzing in detail the image of Lenore throughout the poem. In dealing with the theme of the lost beautiful Lenore, Poe adopts the most melancholy of Get more content

In the Poem The Raven by Edgar Alan Poe, we can find an incredible work of fiction about psychological horror. The speaker on this poem falls into misery, after a conversation he had with a raven that can only say "Nevermore" There are two details which help explain why the speaker falls into misery, he was already miserable and the conversation withthe raven was the straw that broke the camel's back. The first detail is the fact that the speaker is already tired and in discomfort, this due to weakness in his body and due lack of sleep. This combination helps to point out the speaker is already significantly miserable. As seen on this line of the Poem "Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,"(stanza 1, line 1 The Raven). This also helps understand different aspects bringing him to misery. First of all, he is having sleep...show more content...

It is possible that the speaker has insomnia which can greatly affect him, this is remarked by the fact that it is midnight, even if he does not sound tired throughout the poem, this can mean two outcomes, he has an irregular sleep schedule or he has insomnia. And does not matter which both of these sleep problems cause great discomfort. These are both symptoms of a greater cause of discomfort, which is the second detail in this story. Depression, which is caused by the death of someone the speaker was greatly attached to, her death made the speaker almost go insane. This is clear in part of the poem "From my books surcease of sorrow –sorrow for the lost Lenore– for the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore– nameless here forevermore" (lines 8–11, 2nd stanza, The Raven). These lines point out he is in "sorrow for the lost Lenore" or in other words depression, depression is the worst psychological problem to have since it will cause increasing misery. Not only

Analysis of the Raven (The Poem Itself, and Its Symbolism) "The Raven" has been one of the most recognizable works in American poetry because of its haunting, music–like quality. It is also known for its hypnotic sound and uniform tone of melancholy. Poe needed to create a masterpiece people could remember him by. He used all of his best writing talents in his poem; repetition, parallelism, internal rhyme, alliteration, and assonance, so that he would be committed to the memories of all people for countless generations.

In his essays, Poe defended beauty and pleasure as the primary concerns of poetry and was very much against excessive length. (Funk & Wagnalls, 104) He chose his yet–to–be–written poem to be around 100 lines long–short enough to be read in one sitting, but long enough to be enjoyed by readers and to fill up a few pages. Once written, his poem was exactly 108 lines long. Always contrary to the mainstream, Poe decided to write his newest poem backwards; first, to figure out the effect, then the plot, and then the writing of the actual work. Because Poe believed that "beauty is the sole legitimate province of a poem," he made the theme and effect of "The Raven" the loss of ideal beauty, and the difficulty in regaining it. (World Literature Criticism, 2751) After choosing his theme, he believed the poem would have sadness as its best tone. Using both the theme of beauty and the tone of sadness, he could only come up with having death as the topic of

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"The Raven" Analysis Edgar Allan Poe's life was inevitably gloomy and it is strongly reflected in a majority of his literary work. Poe's father abandoned him when he was just a year old and his mother died the following year from an abominable case of tuberculosis (Edgar Allan Poe.) Poe's story, "The Raven", reflects his sadness toward losing his former wife, Virginia Eliza Clemm whom he married in 1835. The story details the night of an unnamed narrator studying an old book on a December night. A raven appears above his door and is with him throughout the night. The narrator is heartbroken about his love, Lenore who has died and is trying to find peace of mind. Poe's dark and mysterious way of writing is an exact reflection of his...show more content...

In "The Raven", the narrator appears to fight with the bird, however, he is on the brink of insanity and is actually fighting an inner battle with himself. Throughout his troubles in life, one could assume he may be on the brink of insanity, or somewhere close. These periods of traumatic events seemed to be the place where Poe's haunting stories come from. There are many literary devices in "The Raven." One that contributes to the meaning of the story is the symbolism of the raven itself. The raven represents death and is described as an "ebony bird" (43) and an "ungainly fowl" (49). The narrator is using it to show his feelings of depression and decay. The raven is the dreadful reminder to the narrator that Lenore is gone and he is ultimately only left with sadness. The raven also represents a feeling of grief to the narrator who has lost his love, Lenore. Another literary device contributing to the poem is personification. The raven replies "nevermore" when the narrator asks for its name, but then later adapts a more sinister tone. In stanza ten, lines fifty–five through fifty–six, the narrator states, "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." In these lines, the raven does not utter another word. The narrator soon goes back into his depressed state and in lines fifty–eight and fifty–nine refers to the bird as just another friend who will abandon him. Many metaphors are

The Raven, by Edgar Allen Poe is a poem laced with intricate symbolism that has many different meanings throughout. The poem dictates the grief and horror the protagonist's experiences from losing his loved one, Lenore, and his conversations with the titular raven. One may take note of the similarities between Poe and his protagonist, terror the character feels, and the self–projections he places on the raven. During the time that Poe was writing his poem The Raven, his wife/cousin was dying from tuberculosis which Latson hypothesizes caused him to write this tale of woe (1). This is not the first time Poe has lost a loved one. Both his parents and his bothered passed away when he was very young and Lanzendorfer comments on Poe's conception of The Raven "a poem written by a man who'd lost many loved ones, and was soon expecting to lose one more." I believe perfectly describes Poe's mood when first beginning his writing (1). One of the reasons Poe chose a raven was because, according to Eckert , his friend Charles Dickens had one that could talk (1). Hallqvist claims that it is also because a raven is able to mimic speech and is associated with death (1).

We start with the protagonists being started awake after falling asleep in his chair reading to ease the pain of the loss of his loved one Lenore. We can see a clear representation of Poe and his ill wife and how much he loved her when he goes into detail how she is an angle in the line "For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore" (Poe 1). Hallqvist notes that the use of "midnight" and "December" add to the feeling of loss and the end Poe is trying to emphasize (1). The poem continues with giving us a little insight into his character. He is easily frightened at the moment which may be a result of his grief. When he opens the door wide and nothing is there, he proceeds to explain how this frightened him more because he is now imagining horrors that he would rather not. This adds to the horror the reader feels as they begin to empathize with him as most people tend to let their imaginations run wild when they are scared. When we finally meet the Raven, it perches directly on top of a bust of Pallas who is the Greek Goddess of

The poem, "The Raven," written by Edgar Allen Poe shows the deep depression and confusion that the narrator is experiencing since the death of his beloved wife. The gloomy setting of the poem predicts the visit of the Raven, whom is a sign of misfortune, darkness, and death. Throughout the poem, the narrator is continually mourning his wife, Lenore. He secretly hopes that the Raven will bring good news regarding his wife and his future; however, the Raven informs him that he will forever remain depressed. Furthermore, Poe uses setting, strong word choice, and symbolism to illustrate the Raven as the messenger of darkness and explain the narrator's emotional state. Poe's description of the setting creates the mood for the story, which in...show more content...

Poe uses word choice that is highly appropriate for his setting and the visit of the Raven within the poem. He mentions the Raven visits in December and that during that time "each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor" (8). The actual meaning of this phrase, means that ashes are falling on the floor from the fire; however, it implies that with each moment within December the narrator experiences a new form of pain and grief. In addition, when the narrator sees the curtains move he says that the movement "filled [him] with fantastic terrors never felt before" (14). This specific phrase shows that the narrator is scared about discovering what is awaiting him. Poe also provides a list of actions the narrator was participating in while frightened by the Raven; the narrator is said to be "wondering, fearing, doubting, [and] dreaming dreams no moral ever dared to dream before" (25–26). This list includes actions that an individual would partake in during an event of extreme discomfort and while in extreme panic. In addition, Poe adds that upon the narrator's discovery of the bird "the silence was unbroken" (27). This small yet simple phrase increases the disturbing of the Raven's unannounced arrival because it did not specify its purpose for visiting the narrator. Poe use of word choice continually promotes fear and darkness. For example, the narrator hopes that the bird will give him some

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Those that have read "The Raven" may not fully understand what the young man in the poem is feeling and may question why does he do these things. Have a better understanding of the character's feelings and what he must have gone through. He closes himself off from others and gains a fascinating raven that flies into his home. Some believe the reason why his is sad and lonely is because he self–torments. Though in reality the young man only misses his beloved so greatly that he can't help but feel sad and alone.

In order to understand the poem in a more explicated way, we must determine what the young man in the poem is feeling. Some people do not understand what is going on in the poem, so if they do not understand they will not understand...show more content...

According to another quote from the poem in the same stanza the young man states, "I remember it was in the bleak December; And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor" (Poe). The young man seems to be alone in a cold dark room as he watches the embers floating down to the floor. According to a book titled "Edgar Allan Poe" the author mentions that the young man "...has withdrawn from the human community and enclosed himself in a dark room..." (Bloom). Therefore, the young man has truly cut himself off from others as he was stricken with grief over the loss of Lenore. There are many examples as well as support from sources that the young man is extremely saddened and lonely. Additionally, there is cause to believe that there is a reason to why the young man feels the way he does. In fact, he seems to have lost someone important to him, named Lenore. Coupled with the fact that since he has lost someone dear to him he becomes entranced by a raven that has entered his home. The loss of Lenore drove the young man has closed himself off from contact with others and stays within his dark and lonely home. So, when the raven flew into his home onto the bust above his door he was quite fascinated by the dark and eerie bird and when it spoke the raven quoted, "Nevermore". The young man was so entranced by the Get more content

"The Raven" represents Poe's confidence that the artistic feeling of a poem is an end to itself. Poe used several symbols to take the poem to a higher level. The raven was the most recognizable symbol throughout the poem. When Poe had decided to use a refrain that repeated the word "nevermore," he found that it would be most effective if he used a non–reasoning creature to utter the word. In 'The Raven' the symbol is obvious. Poe himself meant the Raven to symbolize 'mournful, never–ending remembrance.' Our narrator's sorrow for his lost, perfect maiden Lenore is the driving force behind his conversation with the Raven. In turn, the Raven, even through his limited vocabulary, forces the narrator to face the reality that Lenore will return 'nevermore,' a fact that the narrator does not want to acknowledge. As a result, by the poem's conclusion the Raven has the eyes 'of a demon's' and its shadow hangs over the narrator's soul. For the poem's speaker, the Raven has moved beyond mournful, never–ending remembrance to an embodiment of evil. In speaking of "The Raven," Poe declared that an intended undercurrent of meaning first becomes apparent in the metaphorical "Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!/ Quoth the Raven 'Nevermore!'" The raven thus becomes "emblematical of Mournful and Never–Ending Remembrance." The undeniable power of "The Raven" comes from the inexplicable, overwhelming sorrow at the heart of the poem, conveyed through the

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"The Raven" "The Raven" was written in 1844 by Edgar Allan Poe. It is probably one of Poe's most recognized works. The poem has several underlying themes, the biggest and most obvious is about a man who is grief stricken over the loss of a loved one and his inability to cope with it. A raven that visits him drives him deeper into depression and mental illness by continuing to give negative answers to his questions he asks about Lenore, his lost love. The poem alludes to the raven as being a dream or hallucination, thus setting up for an even darker theme of madness of the speaker as well. By the end of the poem, we see the speaker descend into a deep, dark depression that that he will likely never break away from because he cannot get assurance his lost love is at peace. Poe captures the feeling of darkness and depression quite well by setting a tone and a cadence that is similar throughout the poem, and it helps to contribute to making it more depressing. The continuous use of the words "never" and "nothing" makes me believe that there will be no happy resolution for the speaker in this poem. The speaker's inability to cope with the death of Lenore is evident even from the first few lines of the poem. He says that he is trying to "borrow/ from my books surcease of sorrow–sorrow for the lost Lenore" (Poe lines 9–10). Plainly, it sets up the sad theme of the speaker trying to cope with the huge loss of his one true love. He cannot sleep because of his thoughts of her, so he tries to distract from those feelings by reading. It doesn't work for him unfortunately. The story only gets darker for him from this point on, as suddenly, he hears a "tapping" (Poe line 22) on his bedroom door. Instead of being Lenore like he had hoped, he meets the Raven. More proof of his inability to cope with Lenore's death is evidenced by his questions to the Raven. He asks the Raven if he will ever get over his grief and he asks if there is a way to forget Lenore. He asks the Raven if there is something he can "quaff" (Poe line 83) to forget her. The speaker is begging for relief of his memories of Lenore and the Raven just says "Nevermore" (Poe line 85). His grief–addled mind decides to ask the Raven if his Lenore is in Heaven.

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