Preview

Finding Meaning In Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1127 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Finding Meaning In Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven
Before starting this journey on Edgar Allan Poe's universe, there is nothing better than to dig deep into the events and things that caused Edgar to be one the greatest dreamers and visionaries of the world. One could spend months or even years discussing and trying to decode Poe's mind, but in the end, his words on paper talk louder and clearer than any study or papers written by Professors of renowned institutions, of course, their studies over Edgar's work are well appreciated, but no one will ever truly understand him. Such different emotions, such pain, such suffering which somehow, mixed together created the perfect recipe for marvelous tragedies. Just as Poe wrote in his poem "The Raven" : "Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing , doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before." He dreamed things that his contemporaries could not, in their wildest dreams, imagine. Imagination, a delightful extravaganza that Poe …show more content…
In 1836 he brings his cousin Virginia, and her mom to live with him in Richmond, in the same year, he marries Virginia. He is 27 and she is 13. Driven by a poor salary, Poe leaves his job as an editor and moves back to New York where he wrote "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym", but with no financial success he moves again, this time to Philadelphia, where he writes some of his most memorable works, for an example "Ligeia" and the "The Haunted Palace". Still no financial gratification for his works. He finds another job as an editor, in 1840, for Graham's magazine, during this period he wrote "The Murders on Morgue Street". He left the magazine in 1842, with ambitions of starting his own Magazine, which failed miserably. He had some gigs by publishing some of his short stories, but never real money came from it. Poe barely had money to maintain his

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Symbolism In The Raven

    • 78 Words
    • 1 Page

    One literary device in the poem is symbolism. Symbolism is the practice of using a word to represent an idea. There are several symbols in the poem “The Raven”, but the main symbol is the raven itself. The Raven symbolizes the man’s memories of his wife, Lenore. The bird stands as a memory of his loneliness and misery. When the bird said “nevermore” it was more effective than the human saying it. The raven represents evil and death.…

    • 78 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    On a dark night in December as a man sits in his living room lost in ill-fated thoughts, a Raven emits to him one spiteful word that drives him over the edge. The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe is a famous poem about a man who long for his lost love, Lenore. As the Speaker sits in his living room he hears sounds at his door that fillS him with terror. He encounters the Raven and speaks to him, asking him questions about Lenore and his fate. Everyone can agree that the Raven creates a sense of doom, but many people debate over if the Raven is real or a figment of the Speaker’s imagination. While others may disagree, the Raven in Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” is real because the Raven came into the Speaker’s life and made his loneliness worse.…

    • 935 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe is a poem that was written during the Romantic period. It depicts the story of a young man mourning over the loss of his love, Lenore. One night he was reading “forgotten lore” as a way to rid his mind of his lost love. But as he was reading, he heard a “rapping at his chamber's door” which at first reveals nothing when he goes to investigate the noise. But when the noise arises again, he goes to check and it is a Raven, who just sits “On a bust of Pallas above the door”. Then, he begins to ask the Raven questions. He asks whether or not he'll be reunited with his love again in Heaven, to which the Raven replies, “Nevermore.” Before he begins inquiring about his lost love, he notices a strong smell of perfume and begins to call himself a wretch, thinking he's gone crazy. He realizes that it is the Raven's doing. This enrages the narrator and he begins to call the Raven a “thing of evil” and a “prophet”. At the end, the narrator admits that his soul is trapped under the raven's shadow and shall be lifted, “Nevermore.”. This poem is a fantastic representation of life in America during the 1800's. During the Romantic period, it validated strong emotion, placing emphasis on emotions like apprehension, horror and terror, and awe. In “The Raven”, you can see that Poe was putting emphasis on awe, as the narrator was amazed by the Raven at first.…

    • 823 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered , weak and weary,” This quote from Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven almost perfectly describes his life. Edgar Allan Poe was a man who had many horrific life experiences. As a writer, these experiences affected his writing and that is apparent even today. Some themes of his life that are shown in his writing are loss of loved ones, alcohol abuse and revenge.…

    • 71 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Conspiracy, unkindness, and death are a few words associated with one of the most popular birds in the world. The raven is commonly seen in works of art, literature, and movies to set the tone or scenario for things that are coming next. In Poe’s, “The Raven”, the ebony bird symbolizes grief upon the man who is trying to forget his recent lost love, Lenore. The raven represents loneliness, void, and demise from the moment he tapped on the window until the bird spoke for the last time.…

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    On September 23rd edgar left New York for Philadelphia to stay with a friend named James P. Moss. On October 3, Edgar was found at Gunner's Hall a public house in Philadelphia he was taken to the hospital. He was in and out of consciousness but was never able to explain exactly what happened to him. Edgar Allan Poe died in the hospital on Sunday, October 7, 1849. It was found after he died he died from rabies.…

    • 989 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    His first volume of short stories, “Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque,” were published in 1839. In 1845, the publication of, “The Raven,” made Poe a household name. He was famous enough to draw large crowds to lectures, and he was beginning to demand better pay for his work. He briefly lived his dream of running his own magazine when he bought out the owners of the “Broadway…

    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Human obsession is a major part in Edgar Allan Poe’s works. In “The Raven,” the obsessions are about a woman, Lenore, and death. The character’s obsession with Lenore and death are illustrated with the use of drugs and also with insanity. The obsession with Lenore also leads to the insanity of the narrator.…

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Edgar Allan Poe was born January 19,1809. Poe became an orphan at the age of three and got separated from his siblings. Poe got married to his thirteen year old cousin in 1833. After he married he then moved to Virginia,to support his mother in law and wife he then moved to New York and took jobs as a magazine editor and more. Poe was an heavy drinker that could not stay at a job more than a year and a half. Poe’s spouse died in 1847 and he moved back to Virginia.…

    • 281 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    He decided to go to West Point, where he excelled at his studies once again, but he was kicked out once again for not handling his duties well. After leaving West Point, Poe lived in several places including New York City, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Richmond. In 1831 to 1835, Poe stayed in Baltimore with his aunt and cousin. His cousin, Virginia shared his literary passion and was an inspiration to his writing. Poe also became very interested in Virginia in a romantic way, resulting in the couple getting married in 1836. Virginia was only 14 years old at the time. Poe at this time had already produced several pieces of literature. He returned to Richmond in 1835 and began to work for a magazine called the Southern Literary Messenger. He produced several works with them. “Poe’s aggressive-reviewing style and sometimes combative personality strained his relationship with the publication, and he left the magazine. His problems with alcohol also played a role in his departure according to some sources”. (Edgar Allen Poe Biography, biography.com; page 1-2) Poe produced many major works including: The Raven, Bernice, Ligeia, The Fall of the House of Usher, Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Black Cat, and many…

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    “The Raven” was written by Edgar Allan Poe and originally published in January 1845. It is a narrative poem about a man sitting in his room and falling asleep while reading, wanting to forget his lost love named Lenore. All of a sudden his attention is grabbed by a knock at his door. He goes to open the door only to find there is no one there. Then, there is a knock at his window. This time a raven swoops into the man’s room. This raven first interests the man, but then ends up tormenting him at the end of the poem. While readers may think this man is just a sad a lonely fellow, there may be more to him than they think. Throughout the poem, the speaker goes through several different emotions very quickly. Instead…

    • 1345 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    He enlisted for the U.S army but had to leave because of lack of financial support (“Edgar Allan Poe”). When Poe had to leave West Point Allan disowned him (Kinsella). When Poe died it was the end of a great author. He died in Baltimore on October 6, 1849, he was found on the side of the street some people think he might have been drunk, after he was taken to the hospital he died (Lemco). Before Poe died he was suppose to go to Philadelphia but for some reason he decided to stop at Baltimore (“Edgar Allan Poe”).…

    • 465 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the world of poetry, one of the most well-known poems is Poe’s “The Raven.” Its famous opening line, “Once upon a midnight dreary…” (1) sets a dark and melancholy tone. It is only suitable that a poem focused on the theme of death is set at midnight on a stormy night “in the bleak December” (7). This setting perpetuates the torment felt by the narrator as the raven continues to tap on his chamber door and repeat the word “nevermore.” It also contributes to the themes of death and insanity by…

    • 603 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Edgar Allen Poe is a creative, brilliant minded man who writes extraordinary pieces. A common question is whether the Raven in the poem, The Raven, is real or of the imagination of the narrator. With crucial evidence of the fatigue, grief, referencing and symbolism, it shows the Raven, is mere of the imagination.…

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Poe, in fact, wrote nearly seventy short works of fiction. He is duly credited with creating the detective story genre and with transforming the Gothic mystery tale of the Romantic Period into the modern horror or murder stories centered in the outlying regions of human mind and experience. But he also wrote several comic and satirical pieces, literary parodies, sketches, and experimental stories, including "A Descent into the Maelstrom," and his novella, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. His most famous poems—"The Raven," "Ulalume," "The Bells," "The City in the Sea"—were enormously influential. These famous verses were behind a powerful wave of enthusiasm for Poe that arose among the leading writers of Europe during his own lifetime, spread thereafter around the world, and was sustained through the "discovery" of existential "human condition" themes in his short stories generations later. But Poe also wrote three volumes of poetry during the first period of his literary career (1827-1831) that deserve our attention, as does his metaphysical Eureka: A Prose Poem and his verse drama, Politian. In terms of the hidden breadth of his accomplishments, during most of his career, Poe labored as an editor of literary journals and reviewer of fiction, verse, and non-fiction books. Among the latter, Poe wrote reviews on books of such diverse fields as…

    • 771 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays