preview

Edgar Allan Poe 's The Raven Essay

Good Essays

An Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven
Death. A strong topic, frequently but solemnly discussed. However, when I read Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”, I was immediately captivated by the new angle brought to my attention regarding death. While the topic of death is usually associated with either sympathy or horror, Poe succeeded in portraying a feeling caught between the two; and at the same time bringing forth new feelings I would never thought to consider regarding death. These feelings reflect a sorrow so deep into a psychological madness, a feeling that the pain death brings has ruined one forever. After analyzing this poem I came to the conclusion that Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” demonstrates that the sorrow the death of a loved one brings will stay with you forever. Poe communicated this theme through abstract language , tone, and allusion.
The opening lines of The Raven identify the speaker as someone who feels tired and weak but is still awake in the middle of a gloomy night. He passes the time by reading a strange book of ancient knowledge. The first line of the poem contains alliteration of w in “while,” “weak,” and “weary” to produce the effect of unsteadiness. This line also sets the poem’s rhythmical pattern and provides the first example of the use of internal rhyme in “dreary” and “weary.” The speaker tells of becoming more tired and beginning to doze but being wakened by a sound that he assumes is a quiet knock. Internal rhymes of “napping,” “tapping,”

Get Access