The Raven From Egar Alan Poe, Essay Example

Arnold Literary device are key components of all literature. Most of the authors use them continuously in their writings to help the reader understand the story. In addition, literary device makes writing to be more interesting. The poem ‘the raven’ is an example where the writer has used various literary devices to create different meaning and impression. Edgar Allan Poe authored the poem. Poe was an American author, editor, poet, and   literary critic. Poe is considered as a the inventor of detective fiction genre, in addition, Poe’s contributions toward emerging genre of science fiction remains noted to date. He was among the first American writers who tried to earn a living from writing alone which resulted in him having financially difficult life and turbulence in his careers.

Poe was born in Boston in the year 1809 as a second child. He lost his parents while still young and was taken into the home of John Allan, a successful Scottish merchant in Richmond Virginia. Allan family including Poe sailed to Britain in 1815 (Levine and Krupat 637, paragraph 3). Here, Poe attended the grammar school in Irvine, Scotland for a short period and later rejoined the family in London where he studied at a boarding school in Chelsea. In 1826, he joined the University of Virginia but he did not finish his studies citing financial problems. In 1827, Poe traveled to Boston where he was sustaining himself with odd jobs as clerk and newspaper writer. Unable to sustain himself, he enlisted in United States Army. In generally Poe had a stormy early life, characterized loss of parent, financial problem fights with other writers, and legendary drinking. Some of the scholars associate the Poe obsession with theme of terror, suffering in most of his work to the difficulties that he went through in his early life.

In the poem Raven, Poe brings the theme of “fear of loneliness” and “pain of losing something” that the narrator was facing. However, this does not only tell the story of the narrator, but also tell the true story of Poe loneliness in life and the hardship that he was facing. In fact,  Edgar Allan Poe wrote this poem in a painful mind condition. For some time his wife had been sick. Perhaps the fear of losing his wife might have made Poe to write a poem with a this theme.  He connects the story through imagery to tell a story of dark world as he knew.   The poem begins at mid night, on December.

“Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December”

To many people December marks a period of holiday when friend and family gather to celebrate. Poe brings the narrator alone which meant that he had no one to spend time with. Also, choose the bird raven to symbol loneliness, darkness and death (Thomas and Mabbott,  2010). The bird is known for its darkness and mysteriousness. Rarely do you see the bird with other- it is a solitary creature. The creature is also known to signify bad omen and the coming of death.  Perhaps this is the reason why Poe chooses the bird.

Poem the Raven

The raven poem was written in 1845. In this poem, Poe investigated the loss of ideal beauty and difficulty in regaining love again. The poem made him famous; consequently, it has been referenced and parodied on countless occasions. The poem caused immediate national sensation, it was widely discussed, performed and reprinted. The poem not only became common among Americans but also all over the world. The lyrics of the poem have been used in books, movies, magazines, and television shows. The secret behind the ravage unique powerful appeal is attributed to its compelling structure, archetypal symbolism, application of the technical device such as repetition and original imagination. This paper highlights some of the literary device that Poe employs in the poem. In particular, the paper pays special attention to symbolism, the theme, setting and repetition as used in the poem.

The summary of the poem echo is the poet requiem for the long-lost love. This poem is sometimes referred to as the poem with a mark of melancholy where his never-ending struggle to get over his grief seldom provide him a chance to finally end his aguish. Poe use the name “Lenore” to set the precedent of the melancholy “L” and “O” sound dominate the poem. For instance, the internal ryhe in the first and second stanzas feature this sound:

“Broken is the golden bowl” and “let the bell toll……. (Levine and Krupat 637 paragraph 5”

The poem begins at midnight in December- the last minute of a day and the final month of the year. Internally and externally, this symbolizes the time of death and decay. The story that follows is tragic, terrifying but simple.

The theme of the poem begins with a hint of the suspense as Allan Poe continues to draw upon the image that offers spooky atmosphere. This atmosphere is meant to signify that it is late in the night and in the year. In most of his work, Poe uses the setting to represent the inner personality or emotions of the main character. It is, therefore, crucial to pay attention to the physical setting to get the deeper meaning of the poem (Levine and krupat 637, paragraph 5).

“Once upon a midnight dreary, while i pondered, weak and weary”

In the next line, the narrator gives a hint of why he is staying late in the night- he is grieving for the loss of her love, Lenore.

At this time Lenore is dead, however Poe has not been able to give a grip on the reality and as a result, he is at war with himself while trying to overcome the grief and lighten his heart. The narrator wants to end his sorrow however he is unsure that staying late at night will help. Poe fills the setting and builds an atmosphere of fantastic terror. As the narrator states how, his heart starts to beat faster, and that he has no idea of how to calm himself (Levine and krupat 637). At this stage, the raven identity is hidden and is revealed as the poem moods and events progress

As the poem progresses, the narrator becomes more and more absorbed into the atmosphere. He starts to accept the reality, that he has lost her beloved one and that there is nothing out in the world that gives him a peace of mind. The darkness in the poem keeps playing havoc with the psyche of the poet. In the following stanza, narrator indicate that he longs to go to bed and take a nap, however he comes into truce with, in term that the loss of her beloved one has left irreparable dents in his heart.

Towards the end, Poe introduces raven to the readers. The dialog between the narrator and the bird helps shed lighter. The raven helps him recall days of nobles. The introduction of the raven makes the poem takes a solemn twist where the narrator stops to ponder and question the sanity of the bird that had flown into his room. It is through the introduction of this raven that help the reader realize how the poet is caged in his inner self and drag his psyche to hell. His soul is destined to be doomed forever (Levine and Krupat 637, paragraph 2).

Repetition is a literally device that repeats a word or a phrase to make the meaning clear. The word ‘Lenore’ and ‘nevermore’ are rhythmic in the poet. The narrator keeps repeating them. For instance, “Quoth the raven, ‘nevermore” the narrator asks the raven if he will see Lenore in heaven, the bird answers nevermore. He asks the bird to leave the bird say “nevermore”. The narrator of the poem is grief stricken and this is featured throughout the poem as the narrator dwindles between his peace of mind and his grieved heart as her lover- Lenore, has left him forever. As a result, the narrator feels that everything he touches, feel or see is of no meaning, and even the darkness brings back the memory of Lenore. He cannot forget her nor can he continue living with her thought. This is the narrator’s worst feeling. With time, Poe fails to come with an explanation; this creates more confusion and chaos.

Use of the symbol

It is imperative that little description of Lorene is given throughout the poem, and so the audience do not know what she looked like or even her relationship with the narrator. The only information given is that narrator misses her. The lack of details about the character makes her a symbolic. Lenore is used to represent an idealized love, and beauty. She also symbolizes truth, the narrator cannot stop thinking about her, yet this elusive nature haunts the narrator.

Another use of symbol and perhaps the most crucial is through the introduction of the raven at the end of the poem. The bird enters the room and holds dominion over Poe. The bird darkness is used to symbolize death, and grief, therefore the death becomes a constant reminder and an intruder.

If we take the wider picture, this poem may represent the fact that a man cannot escape his fate. Indeed, this is the recurring theme of the poem. Some of the other words that the poet has used to represent the theme of death, in the poet, are the term “night plutonian shore” (Levine and Krupat 637 paragraph 3). The poet used the term to represent all the negative aspect associated with death.

Poe uses the naphthalene – an ancient drug used to relieve the pain- to symbolize his constant attempt to relieve the pain he is experiencing. Therefore, naphthalene here is symbolic.

The birds settle on the Pallas, which according to the narrator added credence to its utterance. The perch of the raven on the Pallas may be ironical because it is the narrator that gives the bird such wisdom. To an ordinary reader, perching there may not mean a lot. It seems like a normal resting place. Moreover, this does not mean that the bird will take the character of its resting place. Another important thing to note is that, the bird arrives at midnight. Traditionally midnight is referred to as witching hours. Therefore, it is not by accident that Poe’s picks the arrival of the bird at this time.

In the poem ravage, Poe demonstrates a brilliant command of language and technique and original imagination. In addition, he used symbolism throughout the poet, which fosters his imagination. In this poem, poet has successfully united his philosophical and esthetic ideas (Levine and Krupat 637 paragraph 2). In the poem, he has brought a number of issues such as the terror, sickly reasoning, and the violence of colored and the terrible feeling of suffering. In the poem, Poe has constantly combined sounds and rhythms. He has employed technical devices such as internal rhyme, repetition, alliteration, parallelism, and assonance. Indeed, this poem will remain to be unique in the American poetry.

Work Cited

Levine Robert and krupat. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2012.

Thomas Ollive and Mabbott Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2010.