Poem Analysis: The Raven By Edgar Allen Poe
Jessica Tavernier
Dr. Liz Ann Baez Aguilar
English 1302
20 March 2015 “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe
Edgar Allen Poe represents a major figure in the world of literature solely based on his profound short stories, poems and theories. He demonstrates control of language and technique, while incorporating his inspirational and original imagination. Poe’s poetry and short stories greatly influenced the French Symbolists of the late nineteenth century, who in return altered the direction of modern literature. It is this philosophical and artistic transaction that accounts for much of Poe’s importance in literary history. In the poem, “The Raven”, Poe investigates the loss of ideal beauty and the difficulty of regaining it. Which in this case, …show more content…
In this poem, Poe uses several symbols to take the poem to a higher level. The most obvious symbol is the raven. When Poe had decided to include repetition with the word “nevermore” he found that it would be most effective if he used a non-reasoning creature to utter the word. It was very clever of him not to use a human, since the human would be able to use logical reasoning to answer the questions. However, it is important that the answers to the questions are already known, to illustrate the self-torture to which the narrator exposes himself to. Also, Poe chose the raven because they are known as the bird of ill omen and it would be more suitable for the mood. Another 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 …show more content…
This pattern uses a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable, with a total of sixteen syllables in each line. The meaning of the words and how the stanza ends with “nevermore” each time gives you less hope each time you read more and more of it. The tone also derives from the topic, which is death, and the mournful language of the speaker, who is a lonely man left without his beautiful lover are also reflected in the repetition used throughout the
Dr. Liz Ann Baez Aguilar
English 1302
20 March 2015 “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe
Edgar Allen Poe represents a major figure in the world of literature solely based on his profound short stories, poems and theories. He demonstrates control of language and technique, while incorporating his inspirational and original imagination. Poe’s poetry and short stories greatly influenced the French Symbolists of the late nineteenth century, who in return altered the direction of modern literature. It is this philosophical and artistic transaction that accounts for much of Poe’s importance in literary history. In the poem, “The Raven”, Poe investigates the loss of ideal beauty and the difficulty of regaining it. Which in this case, …show more content…
In this poem, Poe uses several symbols to take the poem to a higher level. The most obvious symbol is the raven. When Poe had decided to include repetition with the word “nevermore” he found that it would be most effective if he used a non-reasoning creature to utter the word. It was very clever of him not to use a human, since the human would be able to use logical reasoning to answer the questions. However, it is important that the answers to the questions are already known, to illustrate the self-torture to which the narrator exposes himself to. Also, Poe chose the raven because they are known as the bird of ill omen and it would be more suitable for the mood. Another 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 …show more content…
This pattern uses a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable, with a total of sixteen syllables in each line. The meaning of the words and how the stanza ends with “nevermore” each time gives you less hope each time you read more and more of it. The tone also derives from the topic, which is death, and the mournful language of the speaker, who is a lonely man left without his beautiful lover are also reflected in the repetition used throughout the