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The Raven Analysis

Decent Essays

“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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