Edgar Allan Poe The Raven - Research Paper Example

The Raven Edgar Allan Poe started writing during his later years at Westpoint where he published his first collection of poetry, “Tamerlane and Other Poems”. Most of Poe’s works evoke of feelings of sadness which somehow mirrors his lonely and tragic life, having been orphaned at an early age then losing his wife and having several failed relationships coupled with financial problems. He also had a long bout with alcoholism and depression after his wife died (MysteryNet.com , par 11). Poe wrote “The Raven” during the time when his wife, Virginia was in poor health.

It was possible that Lenore was the deceased woman being referred to in the poem (Cummings , par 9). The poem tells of a bereaved man who is completely devastated by the lost his loved one, Lenore. Suddenly in his moment of sadness, a raven appears who keeps on repeating the word “nevermore”, as if telling the man that he will never see his beloved again, not even in heaven. As in most works of Poe, “The Raven” has a very melancholy tone which is emphasized by Poe’s use of words such as “weary”, “dreary”, “bleak”, “dying”, “sorrow”, “darkness”, “stillness”, “ebony” and “grave” (Cummings , par 7).

He also uses internal and end rhymes and alliterations to enhance the theme of the poem. “The Raven” was first published on January 29, 1845 in the New York Evening Mirror (eNotes.com, Inc. , par 1). It is said that the sources of “The Raven” are Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “Lady Geraldine’s 1843 Courtship”, Charles Dickens’ “Barnaby Rudge” and the two poems by Thomas Holly Chivers, “To Allegra Florence” and “Isadore” (eNotes.com, Inc. , par 1). Poe revealed in his “The Philosophy of Composition” that he wrote about death in “The Raven” after asking himself what it is among the universal understanding of mankind is the most melancholy (Poe , par 20).

Furthermore, he also asked himself what it is that is most universally appreciable and his answer was “beauty” (Poe , par 13). Having these two topics in mind, he then thought of combining them and writing a poem about the death of a beautiful woman which he considered “the most poetical topic in the world” (Poe , par 20). In terms of symbolism, Poe also considered using a parrot in the poem because it was capable of speech. However, he decided to use a raven instead since the theme of the poem is melancholy.

A raven is known to be a bird which symbolizes ill omen; thus, Poe decided that it was more appropriate to use since it was in concurrence with the tone of the poem (Poe , par 19). Another symbolism which Poe used in his poem is the spot where the raven perched, which was in the bust of Pallas, the goddess of wisdom. Poe’s decision to use the bust of Pallas is to show the intelligence of the lover and the sound of the word “Pallas” (Poe , par 30). Pallas depicts too the wisdom of the raven about the lover no longer being able to see his beloved.

Poe chose to use the chamber as the setting instead of the forest or the field because he wanted the locale to have a “close circumscription of space” to insulate the incident and have more focus (Poe , par 26). Moreover, a chamber has a connotation of darkness and mystery which could complement the melancholy theme of the poem (Cummings , par 1). In conclusion, one can say that “The Raven” is indeed a literary classic written by one of America’s most admired author. The theme, style and message of the poem all contribute to its excellence as a literary piece.

Works CitedCummings, Michael J. "The Raven - A study guide." 2004. cummingsstudyguides.net Web site. 28 November 2011 .eNotes.com, Inc. "The Raven: Introduction." 2011. enotes.com Web site. 28 November 2011 .MysteryNet.com. "Edgar Allan Poe." 1998. MysteryNet.com. 28 November 2011 .Poe, Edgar Allan. "The philosophy of composition." n.d. bartleby.com Web site. 28 November 2011 .