The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

 

 

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

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The Raven
Edgar Allan Poe

 

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered*, weak and weary*, a . [meditated, studied] [tired] Begins like a fairytale
Over many a quaint* and curious volume of forgotten lore*, b [archaic, old] [book of knowledge or myths]
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, c .[example of alliteration]
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber* door. b [bedroom or study] andiaplosis
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door- b
Only this, and nothing more." b What is the effect of the repeated words?

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak* December, d d [internal rhyme]
And each separate dying ember* wrought its ghost* upon the floor. b [glowing wood fragment in fireplace] [formed ash]
Eagerly I wished the morrow*;- vainly* I had sought to borrow e [next day] [foolishly; to no avail]
From my books surcease of sorrow- sorrow for the lost Lenore- b [an end, a pause, a delay] andiaplosis
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore- b
Nameless here for evermore. b . Why is the word “here” italicized?

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain [example of alliteration]
Thrilled me- filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before; .. [unreal, imaginary; weird, strange]
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating,
"'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door- [begging, pleading for]
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;-
This it is, and nothing more." What’s the speaker’s state of mind?

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
"Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore; [beg, ask for]
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you"- here I opened wide the door;-
Darkness there, and nothing more. [Lines 2, 4, 5, and 6 of each stanza rhyme, as here]

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering,
fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore!"
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!"-
Merely this, and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
"Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice: [shutter]
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore- .....[there, at that place]
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;-
'Tis the wind and nothing more."

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt* and ..[jerk]
flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore; [majestic][the distant past]
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed [bow, gesture of respect]
he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door- [manner]
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door- [small sculpture showing the head, shoulders, and
Perched, and sat, and nothing more. chest of a person][Athena, Greek goddess
of Wisdom]

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling, [black][charming, coaxing]
By the grave* and stern* decorum of the countenance* it wore. .s [serious] [look on its face]
"Though thy crest* be shorn and shaven*, thou," I said, "art sure no [tuft of feathers on head][cut] [coward]
craven*,
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore-
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!" See Note 1 below the end of the poem.
Quoth* the Raven, "Nevermore." [Said, spoke]

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly, [The narrator is surprised that the raven can speak.]
Though its answer little meaning- little relevancy bore; [The raven's answer made little sense.]
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blest with seeing bird above his chamber door-
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as "Nevermore." ..[See Note 2 below the end of the poem.]

But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid* bust, spoke only [peaceful]
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered- not a feather then he fluttered-
Till I scarcely more than muttered, "other friends have flown
before-
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before."
Then the bird said, "Nevermore."

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
"Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store*, .[the only words it can speak]
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster [learned]
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore-
Till the dirges* of his Hope that melancholy burden bore [funeral hymns]
Of 'Never- nevermore'."

But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and
door;
Then upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous* bird of yore- .[sinister, threatening]
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt and ominous bird of yore [the bird is now the image of death]
Meant in croaking "Nevermore."

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core; [metaphor comparing the gaze to a fire]
This and more I sat divining,* with my head at ease reclining [trying to figure out]
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamplight gloated o'er, ..[personification]
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamplight gloating o'er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore! [She will never again press her head to the cushion.]

Then methought the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer* [vessel in which incense is burned]
Swung by Seraphim* whose footfalls tinkled on the tufted floor. .[Angels of the highest rank]
"Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee- by these angels he
hath sent thee [the narrator is referring to himself]
Respite*- respite and nepenthe*, from thy memories of Lenore! [Rest, pause][Drug causing forgetfulness, oblivion]
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil!- prophet still, if bird or .[Poetic license: evil and devil don't rhyme]
devil!-
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted-
On this home by horror haunted- tell me truly, I implore-
Is there-- is there balm in Gilead?*- tell me- tell me, I implore!" ...[Is there any cure for my deep depression?
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." See the Bible, Jeremiah 8:22]

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil- prophet still, if bird or
devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us- by that God we both adore-
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,* [Paradise, heaven, Eden]
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore-
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore."
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Be that word our sign in parting, bird or fiend," I shrieked,
upstarting-
"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken!- quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my
door!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamplight o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the
floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted- nevermore! [The narrator will never again see Lenore.]

Note 1 The narrator believes the raven is from the shore of the River Styx in the Underworld, the abode of the dead in Greek mythology. “Plutonian” is a reference to Pluto, the god of the Underworld.
Note 2 The narrator at first thinks the raven's name is "Nevermore." However, he later finds out that "Nevermore" means that he will never again see the woman he loved.

Devices—Parallelism, Repetititon, Diacope, Andiaplosis, Epistrophe, Anaphora, Internal Rhyme, End rhyme, Alliteration

Setting The chamber of a house at midnight. Poe uses the word chamber rather than bedroom apparently because chamber has a dark and mysterious connotation.
First-Person Narrator (Persona) A man who has lost his beloved, a woman named Lenore. He is depressed, lonely,
and possibly mentally unstable as a result of his bereavement.
Date of Publication Jan. 29, 1845, in The New York Mirror from a copy prepared for The American Review.
Source of Inspiration The raven in Charles Dickens' 1841 novel, Barnaby Rudge, a historical novel about anti-Catholic riots in London in 1780 in which a mentally retarded person (Barnaby) is falsely accused of participating. Barnaby owns a pet raven, Grip, which can speak. In the fifth chapter of the novel, Grip taps at a shutter (as in Poe's poem). The model for Grip was Dickens' own talking raven, which was the delight of his children. It was the first of three ravens owned by Dickens, all named Grip. After the first Grip died, it was stuffed and mounted. An admirer of Poe's works acquired the mounted the bird and donated it to the Free Library of Philadelphia, where it is on display today.
Raven, a Glorified Crow A raven, which can be up to two feet long, is a type of crow. Ravens eat small animals, carrion, fruit, and seeds. They often appear in legend and literature as sinister omens.
Motif The death of a beautiful woman, as lamented by her bereaved lover.
Word Choice As in his short stories, Poe is careful to use primarily words that contribute to the overall atmosphere and tone of the poem. These words include weary, dreary, bleak, dying, sorrow, sad, darkness, stillness, mystery, ebony, grave, stern, lonely, grim, ghastly, and gaunt.
Sound and Rhythm The melancholy tone of "The Raven" relies as much on its musical sound and rhythmic pattern as on the meaning of the words. To achieve his musical effect, Poe uses rhyming words in the same line (internal rhyme), a word at the end of one line that rhymes with a word at the end of another line (end rhyme), alliteration (a figure of speech that repeats a consonant sound), and a regular pattern of accented and unaccented syllables. This pattern uses a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable, with a total of sixteen syllables in each line. Here is an example (the first line of the poem):
.......ONCE u PON a MID night DREAR y, WHILE i POND ered WEAK and WEAR y
In this line, the capitalized letters represent the stressed syllables and the lower-cased letters, the unstressed ones. Notice that the line has sixteen syllables in all. Notice, too, that the line has internal rhyme (dreary and weary) and alliteration (while, weak, weary).
Who Is Lenore? It is possible that Lenore, the idealized deceased woman in the poem, represents Poe’s beloved wife, Virginia, who was in poor health when Poe wrote "The Raven." She died two years after the publication of the poem, when she was only in her mid-twenties.
Criticism Some reviewers in Poe’s day, including poet Walt Whitman, criticized “The Raven” for its sing-song, highly emotional quality. The poem is still criticized today–and often parodied–for the same reason. However, the consensus of critics and ordinary readers appears to be that the poem is a meticulously crafted work of genius and fully deserves its standing as one of the most popular poems in American literature. It is indeed a great work.
Summary It is midnight on a cold evening in December in the 1840s. In a dark and shadowy bedroom, wood burns in the fireplace as a man laments the death of Lenore, a woman he deeply loved. To occupy his mind, he reads a book of ancient stories. But a tapping noise disturbs him. When he opens the door to the bedroom, he sees nothing–only darkness. When the tapping persists, he opens the shutter of the window and discovers a raven, which flies into the room and lands above the door on a bust of Athena (Pallas in the poem), the goddess of wisdom and war in Greek mythology. It says “Nevermore” to all his thoughts and longings. The raven, a symbol of death, tells the man he will never again ("nevermore") see his beloved, never again hold her–even in heaven.

Lines 1-2:
The opening lines 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.”
Lines 3-6:
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,” and “rapping” along with repetition of these last two words, create a musical effect. This effect is also produced by alliteration of n. These sound devices and the steady rhythm of these lines are almost hypnotic. The use of “nothing more” is the first example of what will evolve into the refrain “Nevermore.” In this first instance, the speaker presents the phrase in a low key, attached to his bland explanation that the tapping sound is “nothing more” than a late visitor knocking at his door.
Lines 7-12:
In this second stanza the narrator tells what he remembers about the setting and action at the time of the Raven’s visit. It was December, the first month of winter and a time when the nights are longest, creating a mood of mystery. A fireplace had been lit, but now the fire was going out, and it cast an eerie glow. To set the mood, Poe uses mysterious and depressing words in these descriptions: “bleak,” “dying,” and “ghost.” To escape his heavy mood, the speaker has been reading; he says it was a vain attempt to “borrow / From my books surcease of sorrow,” that is, to find something in his books that would take his mind off the sadness he feels about his lost love, Lenore. He reveals that Lenore has died when he says that the angels call her by name. This time the word “evermore” is used in the refrain.
Lines 13-18:
The speaker tells that he was in a state of heightened sensibility because of his mood, the late hour, and the eerie setting. Reading ancient folklore, possibly of a supernatural nature, may also have added to his emotional state. The sound of the curtains as they move strikes his imagination wildly. Poe creates this sound by using onomatopoeia, or words that sound like what they describe (“rustling”), and alliteration, repeating s in line 13 and f in line 14. The speaker tries to calm down by telling himself twice that the tapping noise (introduced in stanza one) is only the sound of a visitor knocking on his door and “nothing more.” The refrain works here as it did in the first stanza, but now it has been attached to a more emotionally charged situation.
Lines 19-24:
The speaker overcomes his emotional state and rationally calls out to the supposed visitor. But when he opens the door he finds only “darkness there and nothing more.” The refrain this time has been employed to create a sense of mystery that follows a moment of rational behavior, overshadowing it.
Lines 25-30:
The lover tells that he stood looking out of his door, transfixed by the “darkness,” the “silence,” and the “stillness” while his imagination increased. Finally he whispered the name of his deceased lover, “Lenore,” and he heard it echoed in the night. An abundance of words that use the sound d produces an alliteration that suggests the strong, rhythmical heartbeat of an excited person. The refrain has now been used after a mysterious and also slightly frightening experience, the “nothing more” contradicting the speaker’s agitated state.
Lines 31-36:
At this point the speaker has not completely regained his composure, as shown by the image of his “soul ... burning.” He returns to his room, but the tapping sound resumes, even louder, and the speaker determines this time to investigate the window.
Lines 37-42:
The speaker finally reveals the source of the mysterious tapping noise — a bird. Upon opening the window, the speaker discovers a Raven who flies in and sits on top of the speaker’s “bust of Pallas.” Alliteration of fl creates the sound of wings flapping. The description of the Raven is of first importance in this stanza. The bird is “stately,” reminding the speaker of ancient times, perhaps seeming to fly out of the books that the speaker tells of reading in stanza one. The Raven seems very purposeful, flying directly to perch on the high statue without regarding the narrator at all. Symbolism occurs in Poe’s choice of “Pallas” as the Raven’s perch. “Pallas” represents the Greek Goddess of Wisdom, sometimes known as “Pallas Athene,” and so by placing the Raven above this bust Poe creates a situation in which wisdom has been placed underneath the Raven, a bird associated with death.
Lines 43-48 The bird’s dramatic presence strikes the lover so that he begins to forget his sadness. He finds humor in the situation, and in jest, begins to speak out loud, expressing his wonder about the Raven. He compares the bird to a lord whose “crest” (royal emblem) is missing. This comparison allows the reader to visualize the bird’s sleek head and also to associate the bird with a character of dignity. In the suggestion that the bird has come from the “Plutonian shore,” Poe calls upon the myth of Pluto, the God of the Underworld, the land of the dead in Greek mythology. The Raven, therefore, may be thought of as a creature from the land of the dead. In this stanza the refrain reaches its permanent form of “Nevermore,” the answer given by the bird when spoken to regardless of what the narrator says. The predictability of this answer allows the reader to note the narrator’s course of self-torture with each question that he asks, leading to a more distressing response as the poem progresses.
Lines 49-60 The speaker tells of his amazement at the bird’s appearance, its position on the bust, and its ability to speak. There is no indication that the lover truly believes the suggestions he made concerning the bird’s origins (the “Plutonian shore” referred to in line 47); on the contrary, the speaker notes that the bird’s reply was irrelevant, meaning it did not make sense. In the closing lines of the tenth stanza (lines 55-60) the speaker again makes an audible comment about the bird, and again the bird replies with the refrain. This time, though, as if the speaker had planned it, he has made a statement to which the response “Nevermore” makes sense. He has predicted the Raven’s departure, and the Raven’s response indicates that he will never depart.
Lines 61-72 This time the speaker is “startled” in reaction to the Raven’s answer because the speaker thinks it makes sense. Still using his reason rather than his emotions, the speaker rationalizes that the bird knows only this one word and has learned it by living with a person who himself used the word repeatedly in response to his own bad luck. With this explanation, the speaker feels amused, and he settles down on a comfortable chair to contemplate the Raven.
Lines 73-78 In this, the thirteenth stanza, the speaker and the bird remain silent. A frightening image of the bird presents it with “fiery eyes” that “burned into” the speaker’s heart. This description allows the reader to picture the Raven’s red eyes and also associate the bird with evil. Poe reveals the narrator’s silence in the phrase “no syllable expressing,” a phrase that calls to mind the poem and its use of syllables and meter. The speaker’s silence is a brooding time during which his mind wanders away from the Raven and back to the sorrows of lost love. The speaker thinks of Lenore as he sits on a “violet” colored “velvet” chair on which the “lamp-light” flickers. Because Lenore used to sit in that romantic spot, the speaker now begins to think of her again.
Lines 79-84 Once the thought of Lenore re-enters the speaker’s mind, his imagination and emotions again became active. He imagines that he smells the incense of angels. Quite likely, the couch on which he sits has the lingering scent of Lenore’s perfume from the times she sat there before her death, but this rational explanation does not occur to the speaker. He prefers to think of the scent as a gift from God, noticing it provides a soothing experience that may help him forget his sadness. He cries out to himself, calling himself “Wretch.” By this he means that he has sunk to a wretched state of grief. But now he hopes that with the angels’ help — a potion of forgetfulness known as nepenthe — he has a chance to rest from the grief, to forget Lenore. When he suggests this out loud, the Raven who has also almost been forgotten, reasserts his presence with his one word, “Nevermore.” In the context of the lover’s thoughts, the bird’s statement means that the speaker will never have a moment’s rest from the sadness he feels over Lenore’s death.
Lines 85-90 In reaction to the Raven’s response in the preceding line (line 84) the speaker calls the bird a “Prophet,” and because the prophecy foretells of more suffering for the speaker, he calls the bird “evil” and suggests that it may be a “devil.” He does not know if the Raven is merely a bird seeking refuge after a “tempest” (storm) or if it is an evil being “sent” by the “Tempter,” that is, the devil. The speaker notes that the bird remains “undaunted” even though it is “desolate” and it seems “enchanted” even though it is in this sad house referred to as a “desert land,” a “home by Horror haunted.” This manner of referring to the bird and the speaker’s home reveals that the speaker is becoming more distraught and less reasonable. After making these statements about the Raven, the speaker continues speaking out loud by asking “is there balm in Gilead?” (Gilead was known in Biblical times for its healing plants), meaning will he ever find a remedy for his sorrow. As expected, the Raven answers “Nevermore,” and the speaker will be thrown into a deeper frenzy of despair.
Lines 91-96 Setting himself up for more disappointment, the speaker continues to address the bird. He repeats the first line of the previous stanza, an indication that more of the same type of exchange will continue. This time the speaker asks if he will be reunited with Lenore after he himself dies, in an afterlife he refers to as “the distant Aidenn.” In Poe’s “The Philosophy of Composition” he identifies the speaker as one who has a penchant for self-torture, and this question with its anticipated answer of “Nevermore” provides proof of the speaker’s character. In addition to the question itself, the speaker’s description of himself as a “soul with sorrow laden” and his description of Lenore as a “sainted” and “rare and radiant maiden” reveal how low he places himself and how inaccessible and high he places Lenore in his memories of her.
Lines 97-102 The speaker has lost his composure, as shown in the use of the word “shrieked.” He yells to the Raven that it should leave and that it has spoken a lie. Note that the speaker’s command for the Raven to depart — “leave loneliness unbroken” — could be interpreted to mean that he wishes to preserve his miserable state, another indication of his tendency to indulge in grief. The imagery used to describe the Raven continues to suggest its association with evil; the words, “fiend,” “tempest,” “night’s Plutonian shore,” “black plume,” “lie,” and the image of the Raven’s “beak” in the narrator’s “heart” reveal
Lines 103-108 In this last stanza, the speaker describes his present situation. Until now, the poem has been a retelling of events that lead up to this stanza. Now the speaker reveals that the Raven remains in his room and that he, himself, remains despondent. Final associations of the bird with evil occur in the words “demon” and “shadow.” The connection between the Raven’s “shadow” and the speaker’s “soul” in the last line of the poem suggests that the speaker believes himself to be cursed by the bird’s presence. The symbolism of the physical location of the Raven, on top of the “pallid bust of Pallas” and above the “chamber door” must be noted. Since the bird has been associated with death and evil in the poem, his location suggests that these forces have overpowered wisdom, as represented by Pallas. The speaker can not escape his condition because his wisdom and its ability to produce rational behavior have been overpowered by his emotional response to Lenore’s death. Since the symbolic Raven and bust of Pallas preside over the door, the entrance and exit to the speaker’s “chamber” or residence, the speaker has no escape from the situation. One may note that the word “chamber” calls to mind the chambers of the heart, the legendary residence of emotional love. So the speaker, it seems, will never emerge above his depression over the loss of his love, Lenore; his ability to be reasonable will always be overshadowed by his thoughts of Lenore’s death. His “soul” will “nevermore” feel happiness.

 

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Author of the text: indicated on the source document of the above text

The Raven
by Edgar Allan Poe
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door –
Only this, and nothing more."

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore –
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore –
Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating,
"'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door –
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; -
This it is, and nothing more."

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
"Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you"- here I opened wide the door; -
Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore?"
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!" –
Merely this, and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
"Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice:
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore –
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; -
'Tis the wind and nothing more."

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore;
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door –
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door –
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore.
"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore –
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning- little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blest with seeing bird above his chamber door –
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as "Nevermore."

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.
Nothing further then he uttered- not a feather then he fluttered –
Till I scarcely more than muttered, "other friends have flown before –
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before."
Then the bird said, "Nevermore."

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
"Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore –
Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore
Of 'Never - nevermore'."

But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;
Then upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore –
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking "Nevermore."

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamplight gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamplight gloating o'er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then methought the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose footfalls tinkled on the tufted floor.
"Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee - by these angels he hath sent thee
Respite - respite and nepenthe, from thy memories of Lenore:
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! –
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted –
On this home by horror haunted- tell me truly, I implore –
Is there - is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil - prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore –
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."
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Be that word our sign in parting, bird or fiend," I shrieked, upstarting –
"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken!- quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamplight o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore!
Aesthetic Interpretation
It was important to Poe to make "The Raven" "universally appreciable." It should be appreciated by the public, as well as the critics. Poe chose Beauty to be the theme of the poem, since "Beauty is the sole legitimate province of the poem" (Poe, 1850). After choosing Beauty as the province, Poe considered sadness to be the highest manifestation of beauty. "Beauty of whatever kind in its supreme development invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears. Melancholy is thus the most legitimate of all the poetical tones" (Poe, 1850).
Of all melancholy topics, Poe wanted to use the one that was universally understood, and therefore, he chose Death as his topic. Poe (along with other writers) believed that the death of a beautiful woman was the most poetical use of death, because it closely allies itself with Beauty.
Poe builds the tension in this poem up, stanza by stanza, but after the climaxing stanza he tears the whole thing down, and lets the narrator know that there is no meaning in searching for a moral in the raven's "nevermore". The Raven is established as a symbol for the narrator's "Mournful and never-ending remembrance." "And my soul from out that shadow, that lies floating on the floor, shall be lifted - nevermore!"

 

Symbols

In this poem, one of the most famous American poems ever, Poe uses several symbols to take the poem to a higher level. The most obvious symbol is, of course, the raven itself. 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. It would make little sense to use a human, since the human could reason to answer the questions (Poe, 1850). In "The Raven" it is important that the answers to the questions are already known, to illustrate the self-torture to which the narrator exposes himself. This way of interpreting signs that do not bear a real meaning, is "one of the most profound impulses of human nature" (Quinn, 1998:441).
Poe also considered a parrot as the bird instead of the raven; however, because of the melancholy tone, and the symbolism of ravens as birds of ill-omen, he found the raven more suitable for the mood in the poem (Poe, 1850). Quoth the Parrot, "Nevermore?"
Another obvious symbol is the bust of Pallas. Why did the raven decide to perch on the goddess of wisdom? One reason could be, because it would lead the narrator to believe that the raven spoke from wisdom, and was not just repeating its only "stock and store," and to signify the scholarship of the narrator. Another reason for using "Pallas" in the poem was, according to Poe himself, simply because of the "sonorousness of the word, Pallas, itself" (Poe, 1850).
A less obvious symbol, might be the use of "midnight" in the first verse, and "December" in the second verse. Both midnight and December, symbolize an end of something, and also the anticipation of something new, a change, to happen. The midnight in December, might very well be New Year’s eve, a date most of us connect with change. This also seems to be what Viktor Rydberg believes when he is translating "The Raven" to Swedish, since he uses the phrase "årets sista natt var inne, " ("The last night of the year had arrived"). Kenneth Silverman connected the use of December with the death of Edgar’s mother (Silverman, 1992:241), who died in that month; whether this is true or not is, however, not significant to its meaning in the poem.
The chamber in which the narrator is positioned, is used to signify the loneliness of the man, and the sorrow he feels for the loss of Lenore. The room is richly furnished, and reminds the narrator of his lost love, which helps to create an effect of beauty in the poem. The tempest outside, is used to even more signify the isolation of this man, to show a sharp contrast between the calmness in the chamber and the tempestuous night.
The phrase "from out my heart," Poe claims, is used, in combination with the answer "Nevermore," to let the narrator realize that he should not try to seek a moral in what has been previously narrated (Poe, 1850).
Words：Poe had an extensive vocabulary, which is obvious to the readers of both his poetry as well as his fiction. Sometimes this meant introducing words that were not commonly used. In "The Raven," the use of ancient and poetic language seems appropriate, since the poem is about a man spending most of his time with books of "forgotten lore."

# "Seraphim," in the fourteenth verse, "perfumed by an unseen censer / Swung by seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled..." is used to illustrate the swift, invisible way a scent spreads in a room. A seraphim is one of the six-winged angels standing in the presence of God.

# "Nepenthe," from the same verse, is a potion, used by ancients to induce forgetfullnes of pain or sorrow.

# "Balm in Gilead," from the following verse, is a soothing ointment made in Gilead, a mountainous region of Palestine east of the Jordan river.

# "Aidenn," from the sixteenth verse, is an Arabic word for Eden or paradise.

# "Plutonian," characteristic of Pluto, the god of the underworld in Roman mythology.
Explanation Stanza by Stanza

Stanza 1: It's late. The poem's speaker is tired and weak, reading an old collection of folklore (note that Ravens are prevalent in folklore). As he's about to fall asleep, he hears something tapping at his door. The speaker, somewhat startled, consoles himself by muttering "tis some visitor" and "nothing more."

Stanza 1 Analysis: The ambiguity of the narrator's mental state is introduced in the first stanza and becomes a topic of debate throughout the entire poem. Keep in mind that it's late and the narrator is extremely tired. It's quite possible he dreams the entire episode.

Stanza 2: We are told this incident takes place in December and that the narrator had been reading in order to forget about his lost love, Lenore.

Stanza 2 Analysis: Stanza 2 provides background information. The incident takes place in December and the narrator suffers from depression. He is searching desperately to end his sorrow. The mood, somewhat established in Stanza 1 with "midnight dreary" and "forgotten lore," becomes entrenched as Poe includes details such as "bleak December," dying ember," "ghost upon the floor," sorrow," and a bevvy of alliterative phrases and words with Anglo-Saxon roots.

Summary of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven: Stanzas: 3-5
Stanza 3: To combat the fear caused by the wind blown curtains, the narrator repeats that the commotion is merely a visitor at the door.

Stanza 3 Analysis: The opening line of the stanza contains the greatest example of consonance, alliteration, and internal rhyme in the history of poetry. Why the speaker is so frightened by the curtains fluttering in the wind is unclear. It could be a demonic movement of the curtains, which would cause even the most stalwart individual to mutter to himself, or the speaker could be crazy.

Stanza 4: The narrator musters the courage to speak to the "visitor" at his door. Nobody answers. He opens the door and sees only darkness.

Stanza 4 Analysis: Things are getting stranger by the stanza. Poe builds suspense by delaying the unveiling of the "visitor."

Stanza 5: The narrator stares into the darkness. He stares. He stares some more. He starts dreaming about the impossible and finally whispers "Lenore." "Lenore" is echoed back.

Stanza 5 Analysis: We begin to sense the heartbreak experienced by the narrator. He so longs for his lost love that he begins whispering her name, desperately hoping for a response. Does he actually hear a response or is he hallucinating?

Summary of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven: Stanzas: 6-9
Stanza 6: The narrator returns to his chamber and soon hears a louder tapping, this time at his window. He decides to explore the noise, telling himself it is merely the wind.

Stanza 6 Analysis: Like the narrator, you're probably wondering when something's going to happen. The narrator is in denial. He knows something is there, but refuses to acknowledge it.

Stanza 7: The narrator opens the shutter and a raven flies in. He ignores the occupant and perches himself on a statue of Pallas Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom.

Stanza 7 Analysis: The mystery has been solved. It's just a bird! Something tells me this bird is no ordinary feathered friend.

Stanza 8: The narrator is relieved and somewhat amused by the bird's appearance. He asks the raven its name and he replies, "Nevermore."

Stanza 8 Analysis: We are presented with symbols of night and death in stanza 8: the "ebony" bird; "grave and stern decorum"; "nightly shore"; "Night's Plutonian (the Roman underworld) shore."

Stanza 9: The narrator marvels at this strange bird who has entered his room.

Stanza 9 Analysis: Our bewildered narrator has no idea what to make of this bird, much like I'm not sure what to say about this stanza

Stanza 10: The Raven just sits there and says "nevermore." The narrator, a little spooked by the entire episode mutters the bird will probably just leave tomorrow.

Stanza 10 Analysis: There is something in the word "nevermore" that brings despair to the narrator. He believes the raven is pouring out his soul with each utterance of the word, similar to the pouring out of the narrator's soul as he longs for the return of Lenore.

Stanza 11: The narrator rationalizes that the raven's repetition of "nevermore" has nothing to do with his own hopeless state, and that the word is the only one the bird knows. He creates a plausible story about the bird probably having escaped from his master who met an ill fate at sea.

Stanza 11 Analysis: The narrator experiences the paranoia/denial cycle. He unreasonably believes the raven is some bad omen, which it then becomes, omens being nothing more than a negative psychological interpretation of an otherwise neutral event, followed by a complete negation with an implausible explanation. The narrator's nuts.

Stanza 12: The narrator wheels his chair around, stares at the bird, and attempts to figure out what this all means.

Stanza 12 Analysis: Although the narrator draws no explicit conclusion, descriptive words such as "grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt" displays the narrator's negative attitude toward the strange visitor.

Summary of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven: Stanzas: 13-15
Enjoy this analysis of "The Raven" by E.A. Poe with stanza summaries.

Stanza 13: The narrator stares at the bird, whose eyes appear to be on fire and burn the narrator's heart. He ponders how he will nevermore see his lost Lenore.

Stanza 13 Analysis: There's a raven in the living room with fiery eyes staring at the narrator and all he can think about is some girl!

Stanza 14: The narrator senses the arrival of angels who burn incense. He suspects the raven's purpose is to help the narrator forget about his sorrows. He asks to drink a magic potion for that purpose. The raven replies, "nevermore."

Stanza 14 Analysis: Angels arrive. The narrator hopes that he will be spared despair and sorrow. He's wrong. Key words in this stanza: quaff means to drink; nepenthe is a drug used in ancient times to make people forget their sorrows.

Stanza 15: The narrator asks the raven if he is evil. He then asks the raven if he has brought healing. The raven replies, "nevermore."

Stanza 15 Analysis: Despite several declarations by the raven himself that he is not there for good, the narrator holds on to the slim hope that the raven can help him forget his sorrows. The allusion to "balm in Gilead" in line 89 is an allusion to the Book of Job in the Old Testament. It is the same questioned asked by Job after losing his family, fortune, friends, and health.

Summary of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven: Stanzas: 16-18
Enjoy this analysis of "The Raven" by E.A. Poe with stanza summaries.

Stanza 16: The narrator asks the raven if he will ever see Lenore in heaven. The raven answers, "nevermore."

Stanza 16 Analysis: The narrator isn't the smartest guy alive. He again asks the raven if he will be relieved of his suffering and at least be able to see Lenore in paradise. The raven answered "nevermore." At this point I'm getting really annoyed with the narrator. He's wallowing in self pity and enjoying every second of it. He knows what the raven's answer will be, yet he purposely asks questions that will justify him feeling sorry for himself. It's time to move on.

Stanza 17: The narrator commands the bird to leave. The bird says, "nevermore."

Stanza 17 Analysis: The narrator is once again surprised by the raven's negative response. I'm not.

Stanza 18: The raven remains sitting. He overshadows the narrator, whose soul will never see happiness again.

Stanza 18 Analysis: Boo! Hoo! Get a gun and shoot that freaking bird already! The raven's shadow most likely symbolizes sadness. It covers the narrator's soul, symbolic of the narrator never being happy again. Some claim the last stanza relates the narrator's death. They're wrong. The shadow remains on the floor and It's the narrator's soul that will never climb out from under the shadow of sadness. If you're teacher tells you he died, tell him he's wrong. If he disagrees, ask him how a dead man can narrate a poem.

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Poetic Devices
Rhyme: Poe uses not only traditional end rhyme but also internal rhymes. For instance, in line one "dreary" rhymes with the final word "weary." The same happens in line 3 with "napping" and "tapping" and the repeated "rapping" in line 4.
Alliteration: The repetition of initial consonant sounds of two or more words lends added richness. Note the w's and n's of "weak and weary" and "nearly napping."
Assonance: The repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonants in closely related words or accented syllables adds music of its own. The long "a" sound of "stately," "Raven," "saintly," and "days" carries on in stanza 7 through "obeisance made," "stayed" and "chamber."
Auxesis: I hear knowledgeable people mumbling, "What the heck is that? Some weird typo?" No, auxesis, from the Greek for increase or amplification, refers to intensified hyperbole. In The Raven Poe employs the device in lines such as:
"Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before."
Note how the simple act of peering into the darkness increases first to wondering, then to fearing, and ultimately to dreaming dreams never before dreamt. The effect is intensified by the alliteration of 6 words beginning with "d"; the interior rhymes "peering" and "fearing" and the assonance involved in the 3 different variations: dreaming, dreams, dream that replicate the vowel sounds of Deep, peering, fearing and the several -ing endings.
Repetition: The repetition of a word or phrase is especially striking in lines 16 and 17 with "some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door" followed by the slight alteration of "some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door." The concluding word or phrase of each stanza picks up the sound of his lost Lenore's name with "nothing more. . . .forevermore. . . .and the six repetitions of "Nevermore."
Onomatopoeia: The use of words whose sounds are imitations of natural sounds is evident in such words as "rapping," "tapping," and "beating" suggest the heartbeat of the speaker whose agitation increases with every succeeding stanza.
The speaker goes to the door but finds only darkness. He whispers the name Lenore, and it echoes back to him. Returning to his chamber, he hears the same tapping, louder now, coming from his latticed window. He flings open the shutter, and in steps "a stately raven" that perches on a bust of Pallas Athena above his door.
I've never understood why the speaker comments, "Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou, art sure no craven." How and why would such an indignity have befallen the bird that the speaker also somehow determines to be advanced in years? With Poe minor disbelief, is suspended. His sepulchral mood is sustained, and queries logical are immediately forgotten and resurface "Nevermore."
The poem's magical appeal - conveyed through rhymes interior and exterior, heightened by studied repetitions and alliterations like "grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt" - affects me as keenly as it did on my first reading. I know about little Edgar Poe's drug and alcohol problems, his quirky sexuality, the borderline incest of his marriage to Virginia Clemm, a 13-year-old cousin; his excessive devotion to his biological mother as well as his mother-in-law/aunt, the mysterious circumstances of his death.

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The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

 

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The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe