THE LIFE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE
Edgar Allan Poe was born January 19, 1809, the last of three siblings. Both his parents died within three years after his birth. After, he was adopted by a wealthy tobacco merchant. Poe was trained to become a businessman, but his interest was in poetry. Poe went to the University of Virginia, but he soon became overloaded with debt because his father didn’t provide him with any money. When he went back to his house in Richmond, Virginia, he found that his fiance was engaged to another man. Enraged, Poe set out to become a great poet. A few years later, Poe’s mother was dying and wanted to see him, but when Poe made it back to Virginia, his mother was already buried. Poe enrolled in West Point; after a few months he was kicked out. Later, when his father died, Poe was left out of the will. Before, Poe had already moved to Baltimore and wrote for a magazine, he also married a girl named Virginia Chemm. Virginia’s mother Maria Clemm was like another mother to Poe. But, Poe was extremely dissatisfied with his impoverished life. At this time, his wife contracted tuberculosis. Poe moved his family to New York. In New York, he published his poem The Raven looking not only for commercial success, but also possibly as a remembrance to all the loved ones he lost. Later that winter, his wife died. Poe died two years later October 7, 1849.
Edgar Allan Poe was born January 19, 1809, the last of three siblings. Both his parents died within three years after his birth. After, he was adopted by a wealthy tobacco merchant. Poe was trained to become a businessman, but his interest was in poetry. Poe went to the University of Virginia, but he soon became overloaded with debt because his father didn’t provide him with any money. When he went back to his house in Richmond, Virginia, he found that his fiance was engaged to another man. Enraged, Poe set out to become a great poet. A few years later, Poe’s mother was dying and wanted to see him, but when Poe made it back to Virginia, his mother was already buried. Poe enrolled in West Point; after a few months he was kicked out. Later, when his father died, Poe was left out of the will. Before, Poe had already moved to Baltimore and wrote for a magazine, he also married a girl named Virginia Chemm. Virginia’s mother Maria Clemm was like another mother to Poe. But, Poe was extremely dissatisfied with his impoverished life. At this time, his wife contracted tuberculosis. Poe moved his family to New York. In New York, he published his poem The Raven looking not only for commercial success, but also possibly as a remembrance to all the loved ones he lost. Later that winter, his wife died. Poe died two years later October 7, 1849.
LITERARY PERIOD
The Raven is a very good representation of the literary period, Romanticism. This poem is categorized in the subcategory of Dark/Gothic Romanticism. One notable characteristic of Dark Romanticism is the shadowy approach to the text. In The Raven, the narrator starts off by describing the weary mood he is in reading long forgotten books. This sets up the shadowy beginning of the poem. Another characteristic of Dark Romanticism is that there are many creepy symbols. In The Raven, the creepiest symbol is the raven itself. Also, characters in Dark Romantic novels often experience the effects of guilt and sin. The narrator in the poem ultimately drove himself mad with his own thoughts. That is why The Raven is categorized as a Dark Romantic poem.
The Raven is a very good representation of the literary period, Romanticism. This poem is categorized in the subcategory of Dark/Gothic Romanticism. One notable characteristic of Dark Romanticism is the shadowy approach to the text. In The Raven, the narrator starts off by describing the weary mood he is in reading long forgotten books. This sets up the shadowy beginning of the poem. Another characteristic of Dark Romanticism is that there are many creepy symbols. In The Raven, the creepiest symbol is the raven itself. Also, characters in Dark Romantic novels often experience the effects of guilt and sin. The narrator in the poem ultimately drove himself mad with his own thoughts. That is why The Raven is categorized as a Dark Romantic poem.
THE RAVEN- SUMMARY
It is a deary midnight in December, the poem starts in the bedroom of the narrator. The narrator is reading is reading a really old book and he is feeling very weak and weary. He is starting to fall asleep, but a sudden tapping sound wakes him up. The character was just mourning a woman named Lenore. The narrator starts to freak out about every sound or movement in his room. But, he gathers up courage and opens his door. He finds nothing. He hears the rapping again; this time, he decides to check the window. When he opened the window, a raven flew into his room and perched on a statue right above the narrator’s chamber door. The narrator is amused by the presence of the raven and asks the raven it’s name. The raven answers the narrator with “Nevermore”. The narrator is very surprised that the raven could talk, but he starts to feel depressed again. The narrator feels that the word “Nevermore” describes the raven’s soul, dark and lonely. He waits for the Raven to leave thinking that the bird is no more than someone who will leave him by sunrise just like all his friends. The raven says “Nevermore” spookier than the last time. The narrator is drawn by the bird and he becomes extremely interested in it to the point where he pulls up a chair and sits in front of it. The narrator is imagining and guessing things about the raven, where it came from, what it experienced. As the narrator is thinking, his mind starts thinking about Lenore again, and how she will never be with him again. He is getting more enraged as he thinks about Lenore. He suddenly imagines the room filling up with perfume, and he imagines that it was from god to help him forget about Lenore. But, the raven interrupts his thinking by saying “Nevermore”. The narrator gets angry at the bird calling it evil and straight from Satan, but then he suddenly changes his attitude and asks the raven if his life will get better. The raven answers him with “Nevermore”. The narrator then asks him whether he will ever be with Lenore again. The raven answers him again with “Nevermore”. Here, the narrator really gets mad and tells the raven to leave and go back to Satan and not leave any trace of his visit in the room. But, the raven told him “Nevermore”. The raven is still perched on the statue watching the narrator. The light in the room casts the shadow of the raven across the room and the narrator feels trapped by it. He feels that he will forever be trapped in a shadow never able to rise into the light again.
It is a deary midnight in December, the poem starts in the bedroom of the narrator. The narrator is reading is reading a really old book and he is feeling very weak and weary. He is starting to fall asleep, but a sudden tapping sound wakes him up. The character was just mourning a woman named Lenore. The narrator starts to freak out about every sound or movement in his room. But, he gathers up courage and opens his door. He finds nothing. He hears the rapping again; this time, he decides to check the window. When he opened the window, a raven flew into his room and perched on a statue right above the narrator’s chamber door. The narrator is amused by the presence of the raven and asks the raven it’s name. The raven answers the narrator with “Nevermore”. The narrator is very surprised that the raven could talk, but he starts to feel depressed again. The narrator feels that the word “Nevermore” describes the raven’s soul, dark and lonely. He waits for the Raven to leave thinking that the bird is no more than someone who will leave him by sunrise just like all his friends. The raven says “Nevermore” spookier than the last time. The narrator is drawn by the bird and he becomes extremely interested in it to the point where he pulls up a chair and sits in front of it. The narrator is imagining and guessing things about the raven, where it came from, what it experienced. As the narrator is thinking, his mind starts thinking about Lenore again, and how she will never be with him again. He is getting more enraged as he thinks about Lenore. He suddenly imagines the room filling up with perfume, and he imagines that it was from god to help him forget about Lenore. But, the raven interrupts his thinking by saying “Nevermore”. The narrator gets angry at the bird calling it evil and straight from Satan, but then he suddenly changes his attitude and asks the raven if his life will get better. The raven answers him with “Nevermore”. The narrator then asks him whether he will ever be with Lenore again. The raven answers him again with “Nevermore”. Here, the narrator really gets mad and tells the raven to leave and go back to Satan and not leave any trace of his visit in the room. But, the raven told him “Nevermore”. The raven is still perched on the statue watching the narrator. The light in the room casts the shadow of the raven across the room and the narrator feels trapped by it. He feels that he will forever be trapped in a shadow never able to rise into the light again.
ANALYSIS
The Raven: This is the biggest symbol in the poem. Not only is it the title of the poem, it ultimately becomes the source of the narrator’s distress. When the bird first made it’s appearance in the poem, It was portrayed as an amusing character. But through the progression of the poem, the presence of the raven becomes ominous ultimately driving the narrator mad.
Lenore: She is another big symbol in the poem. We are not fully introduced to her as an character. All we know is that she is someone that the narrator yearns for. The narrator tries to turn his mind away from thinking about her, but he is not successful. He was driven even deeper into his personal abyss when he asked the raven whether he will see her again and the bird answers with “Nevermore”.
Darkness/Night: This is a very important theme in the poem. The story starts during a very dark night. When the narrator first checks outside his door for the source of the rapping, Poe describes that there is “darkness there but nothing more”. Also the narrator opens the window into a dark night letting in a dark raven. He starts having dark thoughts and feel trapped in the raven’s dark shadow. Poe was trying to use darkness to set the scene and the mood, and he also wanted to show the narrator’s slow descent into his own darkness.
Rhyme: This is a literary device that Poe constantly used in the poem. The first sentence of each stanza always rhymes.
“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary.” (1)
“Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December..” (7)
“Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer…” (19)
“Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer” (79)
“And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting” (103)
The Raven and Poe: The Raven was a poem that Poe prized very much. Poe considered it as the jewel of all his works, and the height of his writing. The Raven seems to be based on more of Poe’s personal thoughts and experiences than anything happening in the world outside Poe’s mind. At a very young age, Poe lost his birth parents. Even though he was taken in by a very wealthy family, his relationship with his foster father disintegrated. Poe ended up leaving the household. A few years later, his foster mother was dying and wanted to see him. Poe traveled back, but when he reached his house, his mother was already buried. Later, right before Poe published The Raven, his wife Virginia contracted tuberculosis. She died shortly after The Raven was published. Through his past experiences, we can infer that The Raven was largely based on Poe’s inner mind. He had faced so much death and despair that Poe had reason to feel like the narrator in The Raven.
The Raven: This is the biggest symbol in the poem. Not only is it the title of the poem, it ultimately becomes the source of the narrator’s distress. When the bird first made it’s appearance in the poem, It was portrayed as an amusing character. But through the progression of the poem, the presence of the raven becomes ominous ultimately driving the narrator mad.
Lenore: She is another big symbol in the poem. We are not fully introduced to her as an character. All we know is that she is someone that the narrator yearns for. The narrator tries to turn his mind away from thinking about her, but he is not successful. He was driven even deeper into his personal abyss when he asked the raven whether he will see her again and the bird answers with “Nevermore”.
Darkness/Night: This is a very important theme in the poem. The story starts during a very dark night. When the narrator first checks outside his door for the source of the rapping, Poe describes that there is “darkness there but nothing more”. Also the narrator opens the window into a dark night letting in a dark raven. He starts having dark thoughts and feel trapped in the raven’s dark shadow. Poe was trying to use darkness to set the scene and the mood, and he also wanted to show the narrator’s slow descent into his own darkness.
Rhyme: This is a literary device that Poe constantly used in the poem. The first sentence of each stanza always rhymes.
“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary.” (1)
“Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December..” (7)
“Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer…” (19)
“Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer” (79)
“And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting” (103)
The Raven and Poe: The Raven was a poem that Poe prized very much. Poe considered it as the jewel of all his works, and the height of his writing. The Raven seems to be based on more of Poe’s personal thoughts and experiences than anything happening in the world outside Poe’s mind. At a very young age, Poe lost his birth parents. Even though he was taken in by a very wealthy family, his relationship with his foster father disintegrated. Poe ended up leaving the household. A few years later, his foster mother was dying and wanted to see him. Poe traveled back, but when he reached his house, his mother was already buried. Later, right before Poe published The Raven, his wife Virginia contracted tuberculosis. She died shortly after The Raven was published. Through his past experiences, we can infer that The Raven was largely based on Poe’s inner mind. He had faced so much death and despair that Poe had reason to feel like the narrator in The Raven.
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. What do you think changed the representation of the raven from amusing to ominous in the narrator’s eyes?
2. In the poem, the raven changed in the eyes of the narrator many times. What do you think the raven represents if you were in the place of the narrator?
3. Do you believe that the narrator was driven mad by his own thoughts or was he just extremely depressed by his own thoughts?
4. Who do you think the character Lenore in the poem is representing in Poe’s life?
5. Poe considered The Raven his most successful piece of writing. What do you think about it?
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
1. I think it was the narrator’s process of communicating with the raven that changed his view of the raven. In the beginning, the narrator found the raven as amusing, but he started talking to the raven about things that he was really depressed about. The only thing that the raven said was “Nevermore”. The narrator asked the raven whether he will see Lenore again, and the raven answered with “Nevermore”. That ultimately changed the presence of the raven ominous in the narrator’s eyes.
2. If I were in the place of the narrator, I would have been pretty scared that there is a bird in my house. Instead of talking to it, I would be trying to get it out of my house. But in if I had to choose what the raven represents, I would say that it represents death. Ravens are scavengers, they feed on dead animals, that’s why I would say it represents death.
3.The answer for this could go either way, it is evident that the narrator was indeed very depressed, but whether he really became mad is for you to decide. Some may argue that the narrator did go mad since at the end of the poem, the narrator himself even stated that he will never rise into the light again. But, some may also argue that it was late at night, he was reading creepy books, there was a creepy bird. The narrator was just creeped out. So this answer could go either way.
4.The character Lenore in The Raven could represent many people in Poe’s life. Poe had three important women in his life. They were his mother, mother-in-law, and wife. Lenore could be referring to his mother who died many years ago, or it could be his wife who was dying of tuberculosis.
5. I agree with Poe. The Raven is definitely a masterpiece in terms of poetry. This piece is very representative of Poe’s style; the dark theme, creepy symbols, and disillusioned characters all showed up in this poem. Also, Poe used rhyme effectively to carry the flow of the poem along leading to the climax. The poem is also very interesting, the raven in the poem seemed like it was the one driving the narrator to madness. But, at the same time the raven seems to just be a bystander, observing the narrator in his slow descent into darkness.
1. What do you think changed the representation of the raven from amusing to ominous in the narrator’s eyes?
2. In the poem, the raven changed in the eyes of the narrator many times. What do you think the raven represents if you were in the place of the narrator?
3. Do you believe that the narrator was driven mad by his own thoughts or was he just extremely depressed by his own thoughts?
4. Who do you think the character Lenore in the poem is representing in Poe’s life?
5. Poe considered The Raven his most successful piece of writing. What do you think about it?
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
1. I think it was the narrator’s process of communicating with the raven that changed his view of the raven. In the beginning, the narrator found the raven as amusing, but he started talking to the raven about things that he was really depressed about. The only thing that the raven said was “Nevermore”. The narrator asked the raven whether he will see Lenore again, and the raven answered with “Nevermore”. That ultimately changed the presence of the raven ominous in the narrator’s eyes.
2. If I were in the place of the narrator, I would have been pretty scared that there is a bird in my house. Instead of talking to it, I would be trying to get it out of my house. But in if I had to choose what the raven represents, I would say that it represents death. Ravens are scavengers, they feed on dead animals, that’s why I would say it represents death.
3.The answer for this could go either way, it is evident that the narrator was indeed very depressed, but whether he really became mad is for you to decide. Some may argue that the narrator did go mad since at the end of the poem, the narrator himself even stated that he will never rise into the light again. But, some may also argue that it was late at night, he was reading creepy books, there was a creepy bird. The narrator was just creeped out. So this answer could go either way.
4.The character Lenore in The Raven could represent many people in Poe’s life. Poe had three important women in his life. They were his mother, mother-in-law, and wife. Lenore could be referring to his mother who died many years ago, or it could be his wife who was dying of tuberculosis.
5. I agree with Poe. The Raven is definitely a masterpiece in terms of poetry. This piece is very representative of Poe’s style; the dark theme, creepy symbols, and disillusioned characters all showed up in this poem. Also, Poe used rhyme effectively to carry the flow of the poem along leading to the climax. The poem is also very interesting, the raven in the poem seemed like it was the one driving the narrator to madness. But, at the same time the raven seems to just be a bystander, observing the narrator in his slow descent into darkness.
RECAP VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHThIic5xRc
EXTERNAL SOURCES
http://www.shmoop.com/the-raven/
https://www.poemuseum.org/life.php
WORKS CITED(URL TO WEBSITE)
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/178713
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHThIic5xRc
EXTERNAL SOURCES
http://www.shmoop.com/the-raven/
https://www.poemuseum.org/life.php
WORKS CITED(URL TO WEBSITE)
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/178713