In Edgar Allen Poe's “The Raven” is a poem about a man driven to madness by his own

loneliness. It is an iconic piece of poetry that makes it marks in modern fiction, and has been parodied

throughout history due to it's gruesome nature and enthralling view of insanity. It has rich symbolism

and beautiful language, so I will be dissecting it for my explication.

The Jist of It

A lonely gentlemen attempts to ease his “sorrow for the lost Lenore” by reading books of

“forgotten lore.” He is nearly asleep when he hears a knocking on his door, and when he goes to check

who it may be, he finds “darkness there and nothing more.” Into the darkness, he whispers “Lenore,”

in hopes that his lost love may have come back.

He returns to his chamber and his book, when in a few moments he can hear tapping at his

window. When he “flings” open the shutter, a raven steps in. The raven perches on a statue of Pallas

who is a goddess of wisdom in Greek mythology that he keeps above his chamber door. The man

implores the raven for it's name, and he is surprised when it answers “Nevermore.” The man welcomes

the raven, afraid that it will be gone in the morning “as his hopes have flown before.” The raven

responds to this emotion, saying “Nevermore.”

The man smiles, pulls up a chair, interested in what the raven means by “croaking, 'Nevermore.'

The chair happens to be one where Lenore once sat and brings the gentleman back many painful

memories. He realizes that he is being irrational, and still cannot help but ask the raven questions.

Knowing it's answer to always be “Nevermore,” he eventually concedes realizing that the dialogue
would be pointless. So, his “soul from out that shadow” that the raven throws on the floor, “Shall be

lifted – Nevermore!”

Going Deeper, Down the Raven Hole

“The Raven” is easily the most famous of Poe's poems. It is known for its melodic rhythm – it

has a rather frequent use of internal rhyme, an ABCBBB rhyme scheme, and it's refrain of “nothing

more” or “nevermore.” These things combined cause the poem to have a musical feeling to it when it

is read out loud. This is one of the reasons I set myself on memorizing it in high school. Poe tends to

emphasize the “O” sound in words, like “Lenore,” and “nevermore” that leads it to sound very

melancholic and lonely. This establishes an atmosphere of mystery and loneliness. The repetition of

“nevermore” gives this poem a circular vibe and adds to what Poe called “the unity of effect,” where

each separate word and line adds to a larger and broad meaning to a poem.

The never-named narrator appears in a lonely apartment with a dying fire on a “bleak

December” night. This also adds to the incredibly well done atmosphere that this poem is so well

known for. Having shown the unnamed narrator in this Gothic, lonely apartment with a dying fire in

the middle of a December storm, Poe quite certainly sets the scene for one of the more dramatic poetic

recreations of loneliness and grief inspired insanity to have ever been written.

Iconics, Symbolism, and Hidden Meaning

 This poem is one of the most famous American poems ever written. Poe uses several symbols

to articulate himself and strike the reader. These elements add up to a whole, as Poe was quite

interested in creating poems that could be read and digested in one reading.

The biggest and most obvious symbol is, of course, the raven. The man tortures himself with

his grief, and this is reflected in the fact that the raven only ever has one thing to say. Just as a grieving

man goes over his past to find all of the things that he could have done, knowing full well that he could

not change a thing, the grieving man in this poem speaks with the raven – knowing full well that it will

respond in the same way. I find this highly intuitive of Poe, to illustrate the issues the man goes

through in his grief.

Poe choosing a raven as a bearer of bad news in oddly appropriate for a large number of

reasons. Originally, Poe had thought about using a human as this messenger. He discarded this idea

and began to seek out a dumb beast that could replicate human like sounds without being able to

understand the words underlying meaning. In earlier incarnations of “The Raven” he has been

recorded to have attempted to use a parrot. However, he revised this thinking that a parrot is far too

cheery to be used in his tale of a grief stricken man, going insane in his own loneliness.

The raven's black feathers have been considered to be a supernatural sign of bad tidings and ill

omens. What other avian creature could evoke such a response of foreboding than a raven? In Norse

mythology, the Greek god Odin had two ravens. They were named Hugin and Munin, which meant

“thought” and “memory.” I believe Poe had this in mind when he wrote this epic poem. The narrator

is most definitely a student, as he is reading books of forgotten lore. This leads him to identify with

Hugin, as he is well entrenched in thought. Yet, he is plagued by his grief. His memories, or one could

say, his “Munin,” continually interrupt his thoughts. The yearnings for the lost Lenore, the thought of
re-uniting with the deceased loved one, many people, myself included can identify with this. His

'Munin,' here perhaps personified by the raven, takes a physical form and lands on the bust of Pallas. A

goddess of wisdom. As a man who spends his time pouring through books of “forgotten lore,” I

believe that Poe may be projecting himself into this story, and identifies in some way with this sad

story he has written.

Another symbol in this grim tale is the statue of Pallas. Pallas is a Greek goddess of wisdom,

and is most likely kept by the grieving man as both a reminder of his lost Lenore's wisdom, and as a

reminder to be wise and not succumb to grief. The raven decided to perch upon the bust of a goddess

of wisdom. This may hint that the raven is wiser than it seems, and gives the reader an inkling that the

raven is a supernatural messenger of sorts.

The chamber that the narrator sits is used to signify the loneliness he holds deep in his heart,

and his grief for Lenore. The room is well furnished, as he spends much time there. The storm outside

is furthermore used to show a dichotomy between the orderly and well kept interior, and the

unpredictability and chaos of the outside world in which he chooses to isolate himself.

On Vocabulary, Lore, and Mythology

Poe uses the word “Nepenthe,” in the fourteenth verse, which when I was a child I ended up

researching. A nepenthe is a potion used in days of old to forget pain and sorrow. From what I have

read about it, it is not simply alcohol. Over the years as my knowledge of the world, and history,
increased I have become to associate it with Laudanum, an alcohol/opium tincture that would most

definitely cease sorrow for some time!

In that very same verse, Poe also uses the word “Seraphim.” I know from my studies on the

occult that a seraphim is an angel. “Perfumed by an unseen censer // Swung by seraphim” gives

dramatic sensory imagery about the way that a scent can grow to fill a room – in the way that an angel

can gust air about with its wings.

Because of this imagery, I am guided to think about an unknown person sweeping an incense

sensor with a feather to distribute the smoke, and hence the scent, among the room. This imagery itself

also holds meaning in the Native American tradition of smudging – where sage is dried, bundled up

tightly, set alight and blown out. The burning ember this creates smokes quite vigorously. This smoke

is said to be something akin to pepper spray for bad spirits and negative energy. Traditionally, the

smoke would then be held and wafted with a small set of feathers. I am quite sure Poe also imagined

this when writing this verse.

Poe also uses the word “Plutonian,” which means having the qualities of Pluto. Another

supernatural and metaphysical element is added with this, as Pluto is a god of the underworld in old

Roman lore. He is the equivient to Hades in Greek mythology. It just so happens that Pluto is also the

god of wealth, which helps personify the narrator as well off, but still sad. Money only buys security

from some worries, happiness comes from within. The world plutonian also gives a vague sense of

foreignness and curiosity.

 In Conclusion

I believe The Raven to be Poe's best work. The way that it creates an atmosphere for the story

to thrive in before delving into extremely serious matters, including succumbing to grief, madness, and

misery has drawn me to it over many years. It has much to teach us about human nature, and I know

that it will be a continued source of inspiration for writers across the globe for centuries to come.