An Anaysis of "The Raven"
...slow drumbeat we move on through the poem and are introduced to more alliteration and imagery. One can only begin to imagine how desolate this man is. He is struggling with his sorrow and is painfully reminded of his loneliness when he glimpses into the darkness before him: Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before; But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token, And the only word there spoke was the whispered word, “Lenore!” This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, “Lenore!” Merely this, and nothing more. (25-30) This is the most heart wrenching part of the poem. To “peer” into that darkness, that abyss, and see nothing. How painful it must be to feel so utterly alone; any man’s soul would struggle to find light in a world so dark. In the following verse Poe uses alliteration to keep the tempo going when he lets the world in “Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter” (37). When the raven is spotted, the narrator is coaxed into enjoying this small intrusion of companionship. “In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly day of yore . . . Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling” (38,42). He marvels at this little creature that so boldly steps into his room and perches “ . . . upon the bust of Pallas” (41). In Greek mythology Pallas is Athena, the goddess of wisdom and the arts. This allegory is a foreshadowing to the remainder of the poem. Poe wants his readers to find the symbolism between the Raven and the Pallas bust and to understand that the only “wisdom” this raven brings to him is the simple word “Nevermore.” As the man contemplates the raven and settles into a cushioned seat he recollects a memory of his lost Lenore “ . . . But whose velvet violet lining with the lamplight gloating o’er, / She shall press, ah, nevermore!” (77-78). He is wrought with pain and aches for some consolation, and is maddened by the raven whose only response thus far has been one simple and definite word, “Nevermore.” The following verse is testament to his agony: “Wretch,” I cried, “thy God hath lent thee-by these angels he hath sent thee.” Respite-respite and Nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore! Let me quaff this kind Nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!” Quoth the raven, “Nevermore.” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . “Is there-is there balm in Gilead?-tell me-tell me, I implore!” Quoth the raven, “ Nevermore.” (81-84,89-90) Metaphorically, Poe was making a reference to a medicinal resin for the alleviation of his pain when he makes a request for the Nepenthe to induce a state of oblivion. In the final verses of this poem, the intensity of his sorro...