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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 PoeÆs grotesque poem, The Raven. The narrator is isolated within his richly furnished chamber, trying to console his melancholy for Lenore, ôI pondered weak and weary, / Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten loreö (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 In his melancholy he has withdrawn from human contact and his admits his immersion in literature has not proven a balm to his depression: ôàvainly I had sought to borrow / From my books surcease of sorrow û sorrow for the lost Lenoreö (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 ônevermore.ö

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 narratorÆs chamber on which the birds roosts. The raven ôPerched upon a bust of Pallasö (Poe 1). Pallas is the goddess of wisdom in ancient mythology. As a symbol, Pallas fits into PoeÆs theme. As the goddess of wisdom, we, like the narrator, are fooled into believing that the speaking ôebony birdö might reveal some kind of wisdom not only because it speaks but because it has chosen as its perch, Pallas. By the end of the poem, we will see that Pallas comes to represent something entirely different as a symbol. The raven dispenses no wisdom that soothes the narrator. In contrast, it continually repeats ônevermoreö to all of his queries. As such, Pallas is viewed ironically here. In the melancholy of love Poe seems to be suggest...

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The Raven. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 09:53, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1711505.html