Poetic Devices In The Raven

The nineteenth century poet Edgar Allen Poe makes use of several literary devices in order to create a gloomy atmosphere in his poem “The Raven”. Alliteration, rhyme, onomatopoeia, assonance, and repetition are used to contribute to the melodic nature of the work and provide an almost “visual” representation of his gothic setting. Poe is a master of using these writing techniques. “The Raven” is one of his most popular works. This is certainly due, in part to his use of these literary devices in this piece.

Poe also utilizes imagination in his poem titled “The Raven”. In “The Raven”, the narrator has lost his wife, and is wondering if he will ever be able to find true love again. In the poem’s

The entire poem including the first stanza, as scanned here, is octametre with mostly trochaic feet and some iams. The use of a longer line enables the poem to be more of a narration of the evening's events. Also, it enables Poe to use internal rhymes as shown in bold. The internal rhyme occurs in the first and third lines of each stanza. As one reads the poem you begin to expect the next rhyme pushing you along. The external rhyme of the "or" sound in Lenore and nevermore at then end of each stanza imitates the haunting nature of the narrator's thoughts. The internal rhyme along with the same external rhyme repeated at the end of each stanza and other literary devices such as alliteration and assonance and

Through the use of an un-named narrator in his poem entitled “The Raven”, Poe darkly conveys feeling understood by many: hopelessness, lost love, and death. The poem follows the un-named narrator, as he reflects on, as well as struggles with, the realization of his lost love, Lenore. Like many, he tries to detract his overwhelming feelings for Lenore by investing his time in studying books. Despite his greatest efforts, he is unsuccessful. Much to his surprise, his solitude is interrupted by an unanticipated visitor. Throughout the poem, Poe uses imagery, tone, symbolism, and rhyme as a means of conveying his overall themes of undying devotion and lingering grief.

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

Rhyming couplets are used in the poem “Alone” to describe how lonely Poe felt throughout his life “From childhood’s hour I have not been; As others were—I have not seen; As others saw—I could not bring; My passions from a common spring—” . The rhyme scheme for “Alone” is AABB for example, been rhymes with seen and bring rhymes with spring. Here the tormented mind of the poet pulls the reader back to glimpse at the early hours of a troubled and rapid life. Yet, Poe relates the trouble differently from those commonly afflicted with despair. He was not like others were, he would see things from a different perspective. Where others saw good and desires he would see the beauty of dark and the unusual.

Lenore’s absence also furthers to another absence that mimics the human’s incapability to know and understand what is happening (Freedman). Along with darkness, Poe uses a vivid language to achieve his single effect. Poe arranges time, place, and other details rapidly and clearly. He chooses each word carefully and requires that its meaning relates to the poem as a whole. Stanza 2 enhances and distinguishes the vivid effect Poe has already made (“Edgar Allan Poe” 52). “The Raven” is narrated from a first person tone which has a tone in the language of sorrow, weariness, and self-destructive thinking (Edwards). The contradictions of the poem and also the reflections that haunt the speaker are mostly unavoidable circumstances of the language that Poe chooses. Poe uses phrases such as “dying embers,” “Midnight dreary,” and “in bleak December” to agonize and satiate the reader’s view of the setting. These carefully chosen words assume intriguing and fascinating shapes and forms in the poem. These opening pictures help draw the readers into the speaker’s deteriorating mind. The tone of the poem is appropriate and well chosen for the subject, and the rhythm is also exquisite. Poe, with this tone and rhythm, uses wild but also tender melancholy in his lines. Mr. Willis claims “It is the most effective single example of fugitive poetry ever published in this country, and unsurpassed in English poetry for subtle conception, masterly ingenuity of versification,

Alliteration is another literary device which is used throughout “The Raven”. Alliteration is the repetition of beginning consonant sounds. “The Raven” is full of examples of alliteration. An instance of this device is seen in line 26, in which the “d” sound is repeated: “Doubting, dreaming

In The Raven, Poe used alliteration with the intention to build a suspenseful mood and dread in the audience. The narrator of

What allusions do is to make reference to something. In the poem, Poe uses many types of allusions, for him not to say words directly. Allusions also depend on the way people see it, because I can make allusion to something but someone else can take it literary or give it another meaning. In the poem, for example, Poe uses the "Night's Plutonian Shore" as a reference to the underworld. I

Poe uses first person narration all throughout this story. He does this by using past tense language as if he was telling you this in person. By using this element of first person narration it is able appeal more to the reader in an emotional way. The reader feels as if the protagonist is

Poe uses allusions throughout many of his stories and poems. Allusions are a reference to something famous in history. In “The Raven”, a poem written by Poe, the narrator tells the bird to get, “ back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore”, and he talks to it, “about a sainted maiden that the angels name Lenore”(Poe 78, 80). Poe alludes to the Greek God of Heaven, Pluto. The narrator believes Lenore has gone there.

When studying Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven and Annabel Lee, the reader is struck by many similarities and differences. Both focus on the sorrow and loss of losing a loved one. Both deal with the heartache and grief associated with the search for understanding why the loss occurred. Both have an almost gothic, sad, unearthly feel to them. However, while the theme of The Raven and Annabel Lee is very similar, Poe uses a very different tone in the two poems to portray his feelings. The difference in tone produces a very different mood when one reads the two poems.

Poe's masterful alliteration likewise creates mood as exhibited in the phrase, "And the silken sad uncertain" (13). These words are not commonly used together. The repetitive "s" sound forces the reader to hesitate when reading the line, leading the reader to identify with the uncertainty that the speaker is experiencing. In a similar way, the

He is concerned for Irene, asking her if she is afraid of being in this place. He wonders why she is dreaming in this place, and of what. The speaker says that she must be from a far away land, because even the trees are left to wonder about her. He comments on the peculiarity of how white her skin is, how strangely she is dressed, as well as the length of her hair is off setting to him. He is addressing her as if she will respond to him, which is another use of apostrophe. He is seemingly disoriented by her lack of courteousness; she will not answer his questions. The introduction to Irene being placed in the second stanza is important because it allows for a mood to be created, for the poem to establish an emotional investment for the speaker; we must first get a vivid image of the external surroundings. Poe constructs a mystical setting for his poem which conveys the music in the speaker’s soul. He does this by using alliteration in the first stanza, “And, Softly, dripping, drop by drop. The sensuality of these descriptions conveys how he feels about Irene. Once we are introduced to the slumbering beauty we can see he is concerned for her soul. His probing questions with an expectation of an answer haunt us into the realization that his love transcends through the confines of death. Poe uses iambic tetrameter in this poem, which allows the flow of the poem to captivate the reader into this fantastic setting. The rhyme scheme of