Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven

The loss of love remains one of the most painful emotions for human beings. A painful condition of mind, the inability to withdraw from the bereavement of losing a loved one risks the potential of falling into an abyss of depression. So it is with the narrator in Edgar Allan Poe's grotesque poem, The Raven. The narrator is isolated within his richly furnished chamber, trying to console his melancholy for Lenore, "I pondered weak and weary, / Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore" (Poe 1). In his melancholy he has withdrawn from human contact and his admits his immersion in literature has not proven a balm to his depression: "�vainly I had sought to borrow / From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore" (Poe 1). Through the use of symbols and allusion, Poe reinforces the eternal melancholy of lost love, finally proving that his narrator will know joy "nevermore."

There are a number of symbols used in The Raven. The raven is the most obvious and significant, but there are others employed by Poe to reinforce his theme that the melancholy experienced over lost love is something no individual can escape. One of these symbols is the statue in the narrator's chamber on which the birds roosts. The raven "Perched upon a bust of Pallas" (Poe 1). Pallas is the goddess of wisdom in ancient mythology. As a symbol, Pallas fits into Poe's theme. As the goddess of wisdom, we, like the narrator, are fooled into believ

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The raven is known as a bird of ill-omen. A dark bird, the darkness fits in with the fact that it is "midnight", "dreary" and "bleak December" (Poe 1). The raven completes the dark and gloomy atmosphere of the poem. The raven wanders from a "nightly shore", is "ghastly grim", and "ungainly" (Poe 1). The narrator is at first taken with the bird but thinks he will depart like other acquaintances he has known: "Other friends have flown before - / On the morrow will he leave me, as my hopes have flown before" (Poe 2). The raven is another symbol of Lenore, who has left the narrator. However, this moment is one of irony since the raven represents dark and melancholy images and quips he will leave "nevermore". The raven demonstrates that the narrator may be falling into an abyss of melancholy and other emotions. The narrator is a rational and learned man. He recognizes the irrational manner of the bird's responses. However, he cannot help but keep asking the raven questions, knowing all the while as a rational man what the answer will be from the bird. This might prove to be a reflection of the narrator's descent into madness. It is during the questioning of the bird that Poe most employs allusions to reinforce the theme o

Category: Literature - E