“The Raven”: Sound Devices
... What the reader knows so far is that the narrator is hearing a sound at his door, while muttering unknown words. There is not much known about whom this visitor may be, and these words, rapping and tapping, let the reader not only visualize what the visitor is doing, but hear as well. Continuing, Poe gives off a vibe of a certain mystery later in the story. An the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before; (Stanza 3; Lines 13-14) The “rustling” sound of the curtain is giving of a sense of horror and mystery. The Reader now knows that whoever may be at the door could be someone the narrator is not willing to greet, creating uncertainty. Further into Poe’s literature, there is a sense of fear given off, as the narrator is still not completely sure of what it is the visitor wants of him. Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter, In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore; (Stanza 7; Lines 37-38) Using the onomatopoeia “flung” there is no a sense of panic with the narrator, and the reader now is told that the visitor is actually a Raven, not exactly whom he had thought it was to be. The Raven visiting the narrator may be there for long than he may have thought it to be, and still remains quite a mystery to why the “bird” is there. What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore Meant in croaking “Nevermore.” (Stanza 12; Lines 71-72) The Raven is “croaking” the word “Nevermore” repeatedly trying to let out s...