The Writing Post

For the average reader, there are too many fantastic literary experiences when reading through the litany of classic literature to count. However, maybe the most common is when one reads “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe for the very first time. It goes without saying that Poe’s poem is remarkable in every conceivable way. The introduction itself–“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary”–is so iconic and mechanically sound that one has to wonder if a divine creature gifted this line to Poe. Maybe from some Plutonian shore. Yet, Poe has many fantastic poems that should be shared and revered. In this post, we will analyze the language of “The Raven,” and discover what makes it such a famous piece of writing.

Details and Background

Poe’s “The Raven” was published in January 1845 in the Evening Mirror. Poe wrote the poem in trochaic octameter (eight trochaic metrical feet per line). In addition, he constructs these in 18 stanzas of six lines apiece. Each foot has a stressed syllable that is followed by one unstressed. This unmistakable rhythm creates a hypnotic, smooth flow that moves like a moonlit, phantom curtain drifting by balcony wind.

Meanwhile, the story in the poem details a chattery raven’s efforts to drive a forlorn narrator insane. By entering his room late one night, he perches himself high above and speaks a single word.

That word is: “Nevermore.”

Sitting on a bust of Pallas (Athena), the raven caws and croaks the word ad nauseum to the point of frustration. Though, at first, the narrator thinks this erstwhile corvid is some messenger from God due to love lost–his immortal Lenore. Soon, the narrator has a change of opinion toward the raven. He no longer feels it is from God. Instead, he decides that it is a “prophet” and “thing of evil” for its endless, three-syllable recital.

The escalation of the narrator’s terror and madness brings forth deeper themes set in the poem’s lines. These matching motifs mirror Poe’s brilliant introduction. The narrator states in the following passage:

“Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I shrieked, upstarting—

“Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!

Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!

Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my door!

Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!”

Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

In the end, the narrator falls to his own madness. He is unable to escape the memories and sadness of his lost love. The torment that the raven brought to him was too palpable and he falls prostrate before the bird.

In the last section, we must imagine the narrator in a frenzy of torment and anguish, finally giving in to his own psychosis.

He states:

“And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming.

And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;

And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor

Shall be lifted—nevermore!”

Analysis of “The Raven”

Setting and Plot

Poe sets “The Raven” during one late December evening, cold comfort by the fire. The setting speaks volumes of the narrator, a scholar, and his quest for solitude. His fragile psyche hangs there with him in his empty room, save for his books and memories. Memories of a lost Lenore. This anguish pushes him into the depths of despair, and a nuisance–a raven–further pushes him into that well of traumas best forgotten.

Poe writes that the Raven “never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting,” to emphasis to the reader the creature’s unflinching antagonism. “And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming, / And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;” Poe writes to further this dimension. A demon, basking in the lamplight, shadow thrown huge, watches in menace as the narrator fumbles the slippery bonds of sanity.

“And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor / Shall be lifted—nevermore!”

Themes and Legacy

There are dark themes in this poem. There is grief and remembrance, suffering, insanity, and voices from beyond the grave. The narrator remembers his lost love and suffers from this wound. A raven, no doubt messenger of the dead, emerges to remind him of this darkness. It perches itself above the bust of Pallas, which though a representation of rational, firm judgement, brings forth Poe’s remarks of darkness, symbolizing the pall of death superseding the narrator’s own logic. Understanding this, or, conceivably, as a perfunctory motion, the raven taunts the harrowed narrator.

Other authors, such as Dana Gioia, have stated that Poe presents readers with an unforgettable narrative. This, is the secret to its enduring legacy.

Gioia writes:

“It is a narrative of haunting lyricality, to be sure, but its central impulse is to tell a memorable story. The hypnotic swing of the trochaic meter, the insistent chime of the internal rhymes, and its unforgettable refrain of ‘Nevermore’ provide each stanza with a song-like intensity …”

Doubtless, as legendary verse, Poe’s poem will continue on as likely the best representation of the cleverness, creativity, and audacity of American poetry. Yet, for the average reader, it is simply a great poem to read on a cool, dark evening when the trees rustle by moonlight air and the wind blows quietly, as if a specter by firelight. One can imagine a raven is there, perchance even the raven, perched in a branch above them, flecks of firelight illuminating its black eyes; and out in the night there come whispers of the lost Lenore, while the raven itself is sitting, still is sitting, and calls out into the night: “Nevermore.”

If you are looking for a particularly well-read version, I would recommend Christopher Lee’s reading, which you can find here.