The Raven, By Edgar Allan Poe

Written by Edgar Allan Poe, “The Raven” is a famous short poem known for the dark fantasy that it portrays. From the mindset of a first person narrative, one may experience the tale through the eyes of a haunted man who is in mourning for the death of his beloved Lenore. As this man sits in his chamber, within a dark and dreary December night, a “raven of the saintly days of yore” visits him. The raven is no ordinary bird, for it is like a ghost, silent, yet it answers every inquiry the man presents in it’s own personal way. This dark and tragic tale grabs one’s attention through the rhythmic, yet melancholy verses, through the classic references, and through the dark imagery that all play a critical role within this poem.

Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts. His parents David and Elizabeth Poe were professional actors. They had three children: Henry, Edgar, and Rosalie. When in 1817, Mrs. Poe died, Henry was taken to be raised with his grandmother, Edgar was adopted by the wealthy couple, Frances and John Allan, and Rosalie was taken by another couple. The luckiest one became Edgar because his new parents were very wealthy people, so he was able to go to different schools. When he was seventeen, he entered the University of Virginia, but because of his gambling and drinking problems he was dismissed from there.

“The Raven” is a fictional poem written by Edgar Allan Poe in which the audience witnesses the narrator’s gradual change from a weary scholar to grieving lover. While falling asleep, he suddenly hears a tap at his chamber door. In alarm, the scholar tries to reason with himself and explain away the soft tapping. Eventually, he gains courage, opens the door, and finds it void of anyone. The narrator immediately wonders if it is perhaps his lost love, Lenore waiting for him, yet the only answer to his inquiry is his echoing voice. However, as he shuts the door, he hears a gentle tapping again, opens a window, and a raven enters. Poe’s use of a raven cannot be a coincidence. According to Gregory McNamee,

Poetry has long been an art form that has entertained readers for many years. Edgar Allen Poe, a poet from the 1900’s, is known for his deep dark poems. He wrote many poems that are now considered classics. One of his greatest works, “The Raven”, was written in 1845; just two years before his wife Virginia Clemm died of Tuberculosis. The entirety of “The Raven” is confined in a man 's chamber. It is a December winter and it is midnight. The narrator, the person who resides in the chamber, is reading a book: glooming over the recent death of his wife Lenore when he hears a sound at his door. After finding no one there, he hears a whisper that says “Lenore.” He returns to what he was doing, but a bird flies in. The bird is a black raven, a bird one would typically find menacing. He is inquisitive and begins to ask the bird questions : “What is your name” to which the bird responds “Nevermore.” Near the end of his questioning he asks, “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?” This questioned if he ever get to meet Lenore again and the bird replies “Nevermore.” Finally, the man asks the bird if he will ever leave and once again the bird replies “Nevermore.” Throughout the poem, Poe uses literary elements to produce an aura of wackiness and despair.

In 1844, Edgar Allen Poe published one of his most famous poems “The Raven.” “The Raven” is about a man reading books trying to keep his mind off a woman named Lenore he loved that died. Later, while he is napping, he wakes up from a knocking on the door. He gets up and opens the door of his chamber, but no one is there. He goes to his window then opens the shutters. A raven flies right in and sits on a bust of Pallas, goddess of wisdom, on top of his chamber door. The narrator sits there asking the raven questions that he already knows the answer to, and the raven answers with the word “Nevermore”. The more questions he asks, the angrier he gets at the raven. “The Raven” was written by Edgar Allen Poe in a fiction based poem, but it might be about his own life. During the period that Poe was lonely, he missed his biological mother that he loved so much. He kept dreaming about her. This is similar to the way the narrator misses Lenore in the poem. “The Raven” is in some ways comparable to Edgar Allan Poe’s life.

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.

Authors create mood in order to hook readers and influence them more. Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” and “Tell-Tale Heart” and Toni Cade Bambara’s “Raymond’s Run” all create mood. These texts use dramatic irony, situational irony, allusion, simile, and imagery to create mood.

Edgar Allan Poe was a 19th century American writer who is best known for his poetries and short stories.Poe wrote in many genres;however, his most famous works were written in the mystery or horror genre.According to Robert Giordano,”Poe wrote quite a few gothic stories about murder, revenge, torture, the plague, being buried alive, and insanity” (Giordano).Many of his prominent works include “The Raven,”The Fall of the House of Usher,” and ”The Tell-tale Heart.” The spectacular work of Edgar Allan Poe would be commended and acknowledged throughout history.

In the poem “The Raven”, Edgar Allan Poe expresses a current state of drunkenness, drug use, and depression as existing in a dark and dreary prison like setting, tormented by the memories of a lost love. Poe’s literary career was undoubtedly influenced by the many tragedies he suffered in his life. These misfortunes are evident in the correlation between his characters in his writings and real life events. It is clear that Poe had a problematic life from a young age; he struggled with mental illness, depression, and substance abuse including alcohol and opium use. Poe’s suffering is present in his dark, depressing, and tormented poem “The Raven”.

Type the word horror into google and you will receive the following definition on Merriam Webster: an intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust. Horror is different than fear in that it is more disturbing, disgusting, and creepy. Writers of horror stories take repulsive or unspeakable elements and turn them into a story that’s sure to make even the strongest of reader’s arm hairs stand on edge. One such writer spent a portion of his life writing these kind of stories. Edgar Allan Poe was influenced by his own life experiences, social normalities of the early 19th century, and used literary devices to write horrific works such as The Black Cat, The Raven, and Berenice.

Many students wonder what the reason is behind analyzing literature. Analyzing literature can be complicated and seem like a puzzle that cannot be solved. There is an underlying type of art when one finally learns and understands the meaning of short stories or poems. “Annabel Lee” and “The Raven” are two different poems written by Edgar Allen Poe. Now, one might ask why it should be important to know how to read and analyze literature. If one can learn how to read and analyze literature than they can learn how poets like Edgar Allen Poe have an underlying argument or meaning to the art of their writing. The next question one might have is, well why or how can that meaning be applied to my everyday life? Edgar Allen Poe’s writing is so cleverly crafted that his underlying meaning has an impact on human life itself in regards to values and morality. In this literature analysis paper we will discuss how two completely different poems have similarities in the literary element of theme.

Edgar Allan Poe uses his literary works to convey the gloom and wickedness hidden within society. Poe’s short stories give his audience an insight to the feeling of losing oneself and committing heinous acts of violence. Poe’s mastery of symbolism with day-to-day objects or animals to express the innermost dark desires or torment people undergo emits a sense of comfort or thrill for the reader. “The Raven” provides the audience with the apprehension of losing someone close and the wage against falling into a deep depression. In “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe, the raven symbolizes the narrator’s struggle to keep sane after losing his wife, Lenore.

Dallin Mattice Mrs. Ruiz English 3 1st hour 6 March 2018 The Ravens Representation I have found that while reading poetry, it can be interpreted many different ways. For example, in a poem called “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe a raven is mentioned, but I found that it could symbolize many things and not just a bird. Some might argue that the Raven could symbolize grief or sorrow. But on the other hand people might say that it is just a bird or that it represents his loneliness. I think it represents the narrator of the poem’s love for a woman named Lenore that is mentioned in the writing. To explain how a simple bird like a Raven could represent more than just a bird you must look through the text that it is mentioned in and think about the

Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven,” though parodied, republished, and altered countless times, has withstood the test of time as one of the most recognizable and famous works of poetry in the English language. Carefully measured stanzas with a fascinating rhyme scheme embedded throughout, together with the unique and completely individualistic style of its author, are but a few of the elements that combine to elevate this poem in the public eye. It reaches an as-yet-unparalleled plane of poetic excellence. It is imperative, then, for the reader to understand that the conflict presented in “The Raven” is not the commonly-assumed “Man vs. Animal,” as though to embody the plight of the man as he pits

At the beginning of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” and “The Black Cat” the narrators begin to explain their side of the story calmly, maintaining their composure and sanity. Yet, as both stories progress Poe’s main characters quickly unravel and spiral into frantic, unstable beings. Initially, the man depicted within “The Raven” believes a visitor is knocking on his door, a rational and typical thought upon hearing a knock. The main character’s mental health begins to slip when he yells and believes to hear in the empty doorway, his dead wife, “I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, ‘Lenore!’ ”, (Poe 1). All remnants of the narrator 's sanity