The Raven by Edgar Poe - Essay Example

"The Raven" by Edgar Poe "The Raven" is the famous poem written by Edgar Poe and published in 1831. Firstly it is necessary to admit that poem's language, internal rhythms, use of alliteration and archaism lead to a great number of parodies. The poem is characterized by gothic tenor. It was mentioned that it is easy to remember this poem due to its repeated and varied line "Nevermore". (Quinn 1998) The poem has metrical construction which is mesmeric in quality and opening lines are also present in the poem: 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 trapping, As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. "'Tis some visitor", I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door; Only this and nothing more." It is seen that the main meter of "The Raven" is trochaic octameter. It means that the poem consists of lines of eight trocees (trochee is the syllable pair characterized by first strong syllable and last weak one). In the poem Poe used mainly words which contribute and complement the poem's atmosphere and poem's tone: dreary, weary, dying, darkness, stillness, etc. All the verses in the poem are similar in their form and such meter creates the feeling of something stable and permanent, although the words are contrasting as their tensions and anxiety are constantly growing. Some critics mentioned that the poem is the reflection of author's paranoia. (Silverman 1992) The main point of "The Raven" is its melancholic tone due to sound, rhythmic patterns and words' meanings. In order to reach this musical effect, the writer used internal rhythm when the word in the first line rhythms with the word in the second line and so on. The use of alliteration is also vivid (while, weak, weary). The possible theme of the poem is the death of a women and the main hero lamented her death. Some critics admit that the prototype of Lenore was Poe's wife who was really in poor health when the author was working on his poem. (Quinn 1998) The poem is rather symbolic. Poe used several symbols in order to achieve the highest level of the poem. The most important and significant symbol of the poem is the raven itself. Poe also decided to use the repeated phrase "nevermore", because it would make the poem more effective and outstanding. He complemented this effect by the use of non-reasoning creature who uttered that word. Poe decided not to use a human, because he is able to reason the answer to the questions. It is apparent for the author that all the answers for the asked questions are known. In such a way the author wanted to present self-torture. The first impulses of human are to interpret the sighs which have no meaning at all. The bird is the symbol of death and darkness. It symbolizes the fact that nothing could be returned and nobody could be brought back to life. The raven is the personification of sorrow, sadness and grief, of all negative and depressive feelings peculiar to human. The raven is black and the sorrow is black. (Silverman 1992) It was mentioned that Poe wanted to use parrot instead of raven for the first time, but this bird isn't suitable for the dark side of the day. Therefore Poe decided to use the image of raven best suited for poem's mood, because raven are considered to be birds of ill-omen and melancholy. One more symbol in the poem is the bust of Pallas. There is a question: why did the raven want to "to perch on the goddess of wisdom" Possibly because the narrator believed that the raven is able to speak from wisdom. The other reason is that in such a way the author could signify his own scholarship. According Poe he used Pallas because of the "sonorousness of the word, Pallas, itself". (Silverman 1992) There is one more less visible symbol in the poem- the symbol of midnight in the first verse and the used of December in the second one. The use of these symbols is apparent and inevitable, because they symbolize the end something, the end of happy life and even the end of women's life. These symbols are used to show that everything will be changed and something new and happy would happen after the end of the black period. It is possible to suggest that midnight in December was New Years' eve which symbolizes the end of the year and inevitable change. For example, Kenneth Silverman thought that December was surely connected with the death of author's mother, because she died in December. But it is only a suggestion and it has no meaning in the poem. (Silverman 1992) The chamber is used by the author in order to signify and to emphasize the loneliness of the hero, sorrow and sadness that he feels because he has lost Lenore. It is necessary to admit that the room is too furnished and this feature also reminds about the lost love and also creates the effect of beauty. The isolation of the hero is signified by the tempest outside and it also shows the contrast between the stormy night and calmness in the room. The phrase "from out my heart" has nothing to do with the poem's morality. And the combination of all symbols is fully presented in the next lines: And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door; And the eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming, And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor. . . . It is interesting to admit extensive vocabulary of the poem. He used words and word combinations which were not commonly used in poetry. In "The Raven" the presence of archaic and ancient words seems to appropriate and apt, because the pomes tells about a hero spending all his free times with books. He used such archaisms as seraphim, nepenthe, aidenn, etc. (Silverman 1992) The most important thing to mention is the poem is written backwards. It is admitted that "the effect is determined first, and the whole plot is set; then the web grows backwards from that single effect". Poe wanted to make his poem "universally appreciable". It means that the poem have to be appreciated by the public and by the critics. The theme of the poem is the Beauty and it is the sole province. Poe chose sadness as the highest expression of the beauty. The poetical tone is achieved by the melancholic tone. In his poem Poe used the most understandable melancholic topic - the theme of Death. Poe believed that "the death of a beautiful woman was the most poetical use of death, because it closely allies itself with Beauty". (Silverman 1992) According to Poe the poem is a "set of stages in the process of self-knowledge or the power of human consciousness to be aware not only of its being but even of its non-being". It is obvious from the poem that conscious can be easily destroyed, but such destruction is the deepest self-consciousness. It is necessary to admit at the beginning of the poem young hero is really innocent, because he has lost his Lenore and cognized death. And then the hero became more interested in the questions of existence. It means he became more mature and was able to overcome the death and to begin the new stage of the life. Due to such changes it is possible to mention that imaginative world of the author splits into reality, imagination and mind. So "The Raven" proceeds through interweaving of reality and mind. (Silverman 1992) Poe ended the poem not only because he didn't want it to be exceeded, but because his symbolic imagination was exhausted and he couldn't say anything more. In conclusion it is needed to say that "The Raven" is very peculiar and unique poem which touched eternal problems of death, beauty, sorrow and consciousness. Works cited Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe, Mournful and Never-ending Remembranc. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1992. Quinn, Arthur Hobson. Edgar Allan Poe, A Critical Biography. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1998. Read More