An Interpretation of “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe Essay Example

” He inquires about his love, solely with the intention of further torturing himself.

Within the poem Poe divides the characters and imagery into two conflicting aspects of light and dark. Almost everything in the poem reflects one world or the other. For example, Lenore, who is repeatedly described as "radiant," epitomizes the world of light along with the angels she has joined. Another image of light would be the lamplight the character uses to light his chamber, his refuge from the darkness of the outside. However, The Raven, as well as the dreary December night, shows signs of darkness. These images of light and darkness go further to represent life and death, the man's fear of everlasting loneliness.

Poe also uses symbolism to create a strong melancholy tone. For instance, both midnight and December symbolize an end of something and the hope of something new to happen. Another example is the chamber in which the narrator is placed; this is used to show the loneliness of the man. The room is richly furnished with silky purple curtains (Poe line 13), and reminds the narrator of his lost love, which helps to create an effect of beauty in the poem. The tempest outside, is used to even more signify the isolation of this man, to show a sharp contrast between the calmness in the chamber and the tempestuous night.

The fifth stanza suggests the yearning that the man has for this woman Lenore, and it is as if he wants to see her in the darkness and also hear her reply to his call but at the same time he is scared

as to what he will see. Poe then uses words like “wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming” (25-26) as he peers into the darkness and he 'dares to dream as no human being has ever dared to dream' and he calls out to Lenore in the darkness and he hears the echo of his voice back saying “Lenore! Merely this and nothing more” (30)

As the tapping gets louder the man thinks it could be the wind so he finally finds the courage to open the window. He finds there a stately raven who flies in his chamber with “mien of lord or lady” (40) and perches itself on the bust of “Pallas” a Titan God revered as the goddess of peace and strength ("Pallas Athena"). The fact the raven sits on the statue of Pallas could symbolize that the bird is trying to tell the man to have strength and that he will overcome this battle. The man marvels at the strange scenario he is encountering as no other human being would have seen a bird with a name like 'Nevermore'.

With the perched raven watching, the man talks about his own depressive life saying that the raven too will leave him just as other friends have left him before. He tries to understand why the raven has uttered the word 'Nevermore' and assumes it could be because of what it has been through when despair must have taken the place of hope in its life. He continues to look at the grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt and ominous' bird whose fiery eyes seem to be burning into his “bosom's core” (74) and his thoughts

wander to his love, Lenore, who he will never see again.

He wonders if the raven is a prophet or a devil from God. Near the end of the poem, when the fear of the man has reached a level of near hysteria, he shouts "Leave my loneliness unbroken! " (100) In one sense, this could just be an emotional outburst, like the lines that lead up to it, but the interesting thing about this particular line is that the man, in his terror, is for once reflecting upon himself. This, and the line's location at the climax of the poem, indicates that "my loneliness" is not just another expression that he screams: it is the secret that he has been trying to guard all along.