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The narrator may clasp Morella again, but not as Lenore, or not in paradise. Even though he loves Lenore and hates Morella, it is not entirely clear that they are actually different people!

Why would this Raven repeat this particular word? The Raven seems to be completely ignoring his questions, which implies that it means something entirely different, something beyond his questions. I suggest that Morella has returned to deliver a single important warning that applies to the entire context of the poem, and that the message is essentially, "Stop!" Regardless of his questions, she keeps saying "Stop!" I might expand this message to mean, "Stop what you are doing, and don't do it ever again. Don't do what I have done. Don't dabble in conjuring and black magic. Look what happened to me." However, in his hope and despair and confusion he never seems to actually get this warning, and the Raven stays there still to enforce it.

The narrator wishes to send the messenger back to where it came from, as he is desperate and suffering from the torture he inflicts on himself by hearing the answer "Nevermore" to each of his questions. His interpretations of the word pierce his heart, but the Raven never departs, having been summoned by his black arts, and his soul shall never be lifted out of the shadow that lies floating on the floor. This recalls the scene in "Morella" in which she would speak about the ashes of a dead philosophy: He would "dwell upon the music of her voice until, at length, its melody was tainted with terror and fell like a shadow upon my soul."

Learn more about this author, Reed Forrester.
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