The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe is a poem about unhappiness and loss. The narrator tries to get away from despair and human mortality, trying to pass away into a kind of forgetfulness. The poem shows many different stages of mood which is sorrowful throughout; her beautiful beloved has died. Loneliness and distance as well as beauty and death are the themes in the poem. The speaker is harking back to the sweetness of her beloved, and also her untimely death. The speaker shouts come in the highest, ''Leave my loneliness unbroken! '' This line also helps him reflect upon himself. It's surely an extended poem of eighteen stanzas comprising six lines each. The meter of the poem is trochaic octameter. The poem encompasses a supernatural and grave tone and has great imagery.
The repeating of the words ''nothing more'' and ''nevermore'' gives the poem a musical emphasis and emphasizes the rhyming pattern. The setting of the poem seems very spooky because the speakers live in an extremely lonely apartment. The fireplace is dying, and it's a ''bleak December'' night; employing a ''devil bird'' sort of raven because it represents death and darkness. It's a dreary night, the speaker is feeling ''weak and weary'' and his pain by the loss of affection. Poe creates a creepy surrounding of horror and suspense. It's dark, cold, late, and bleak; the rustling sound of the curtains is additionally sad for him. The part is about grieving the loss of her love, Lenore, whom he describes as ''the rare radiant maiden whom the angel's name Lenore'', he's visited by a mysterious bird that speaks, but only one word ''Nevermore''.When he hears some tapping within the house he's startled and features a ''fantastic terrors never felt before'' his ''soul grew stronger'' and he calls dead set the visitors, thinking it's Lenore but unexpectedly a raven. He describes the raven as ''Ghastly grim and ancient'' which is the embodiment of grief. He wonders if the raven may be a devil or a prophet who can tell whether he and his beloved will ever meet in heaven; and if there is a '' Balm in Gilead,'' meaning, the respite and hope within the long run to this the raven replies '' Nevermore'' which is the only word it knows.
Every time the speaker asks or says something, the raven only responds by saying ‘Nevermore’. This word is used as a refrain at the highest end of each stanza, giving the lines a different meaning. The speaker assumes that the bird will flee like everyone else and leave him alone the following day. He is drowned in grief for her beloved, who isn't anymore, and finds it difficult to beat the loss. Throughout the poem, we can see the speaker's depression, and also the melancholy side is emphasized by the darkness of the cold night of December. With the speaker's growing tension revealed in his thoughts and questions, the stanzas become more and more dramatic. Gradually within the poem, we observe that he becomes growingly upset both mentally and physically Some critics call the poem one of the bleakest poems written by Poe, thanks to the negative answers repeated throughout. The poet uses literary devices such as alliterations like ‘while’, ‘weak’, and ‘weary’ in the first line, which produces an impression of unsteadiness. The symbol used in the poem is that of the raven itself which features a dark and gloomy countenance, reasonably just like the narrator's mental confusion. The Bust of Pallas is additionally symbolic of the goddess of Wisdom, and also the speaker's beautiful chamber symbolizes the sweetness of her beloved, Lenore.
The narrator can't avoid thinking of her beloved, and her memories just boost his pain and sorrow. It's interesting to figure out within the poem how the raven stimulates his regret for Lenore, and he expresses his total grief through the medium of creatures that have no feelings or consciousness. The poet Edgar Allan Poe uses folk and classical references just as the bust of Pallas, nights Plutonian shore, Gilead, distant Aidenn, etc, the foremost theme of the poem as we can understand is that the undying love and devotion of the narrator towards her belove Lenore, whom he desires to both forget and remember at the same time. He experiences a conflict here that simply adds to his grief. This means some ambiguity within the status of the narrator because it reduces between forgetting and remembering. However, he wishes and hopes that he will unite with her beloved Lenore in heaven. But it is strange to note that despite missing her beloved so intensely, the poet does not describe Lenore well in the poem; the alternative themes in the poem are the death of a young beautiful woman and also the helplessness and grief of the narrator. The poem tells remarkable imagination and skillful command of the language which he uses so beautifully to bring out the larger meaning of the poem. He uses words like wear, bleak, dying, mystery, stillness, and grave which contribute to the final meaning melancholic tone of the poem. Its dramatic poem possesses a tragic element and expresses deep human pain of loss and affection.
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Lost Love in ‘The Raven’: Critical Essay.
(2023, August 17). Edubirdie. Retrieved April 30, 2024, from https://edubirdie.com/examples/lost-love-in-the-raven-critical-essay/
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Lost Love in ‘The Raven’: Critical Essay [Internet]. Edubirdie.
2023 Aug 17 [cited 2024 Apr 30].
Available from: https://edubirdie.com/examples/lost-love-in-the-raven-critical-essay/
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