by Scott Shaffer

Created on: July 11, 2008

Quothe the Raven, "Nevermore!" Ahh the immortal words of Poe, uttered in a poem that is rich with symbolism and loneliness that has filled the minds of many over the years. With the first lines of this poem, Edgar Allen Poe takes us on a journey into a man's misery and longing for a person whom is either deceased or has left him for whatever reason. The Lenore in the story being the assumed mistress of the man's desire, we hear her name as the man is looking through ancient tomes of knowledge, books and scrolls, trying to put her out of his mind. It is apparent that it is not working, as while in the lonely and secluded library he has gotten to the point of napping. Suddenly there comes a tapping and he brings himself back to reality in time to realize there might be someone attempting to gain entrance to his place of solitude. He opens the door only to find darkness beyond. Into the darkness he utters the name of his desire, thinking she may have come back to him in whatever form, but all that comes to his ears is the echoes of his pleading, the one name that is on his lips and mind, Lenore. He hears the tapping again and this time it is from the window, so with his mind on his love he rushes to the window and throws open the sash. In flies the Raven, the bird of ill omen as he puts it so eloquently, and alights atop the bust of Pallus, the Greek mythological Goddess of wisdom. Seeing where the bird alights he proceeds to take this as a sign, and begins to ask the bird his name, to which the bird replies Nevermore. This brightens the man, who in his sorrow is not thinking too clearly, and he begins asking the bird questions, only to find that the bird was obviously taught this one and only saying, Nevermore, by it's previous master. In the end the man in the poem realizes that his sorrow will not be abated.

We find Edgar Allen Poe attempting to show just how deep a man can fall into sorrow at the loss of a loved one. We also find that without actually explaining outright what is happening, Poe is able to show us the mental state with symbolism and with picturesque language what is going on in the subjects mind. The need for answers, the desire for the act that took his beloved Lenore, the loneliness and isolation the character feels are all dealt with by utilizing a form of poetry that leads the reader to the conclusion rather than telling us outright what is happening. This was sort of a sideways glance style that Poe used in order to bring us into the picture

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