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Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
`’Tis some visitor,’ I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more.’Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; – vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow – sorrow for the lost Lenore -
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Nameless here for evermore.And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me – filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
`’Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door -
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; -
This it is, and nothing more,’
Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
`Sir,’ said I, `or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you’ – here I opened wide the door; -
Darkness there, and nothing more.
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before
But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, `Lenore!’
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, `Lenore!’
Merely this and nothing more.
Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
`Surely,’ said I, `surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore -
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; -
‘Tis the wind and nothing more!’
Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore.
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door -
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door -
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.
Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
`Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,’ I said, `art sure no craven.
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore -
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!’
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.’
Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning – little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door -
Bird or beast above the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as `Nevermore.’
But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only,
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered – not a feather then he fluttered -
Till I scarcely more than muttered `Other friends have flown before -
On the morrow will he leave me, as my hopes have flown before.’
Then the bird said, `Nevermore.’
Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
`Doubtless,’ said I, `what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore -
Till the dirges of his hope that melancholy burden bore
Of “Never-nevermore.”‘
But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore -
What this grim, ungainly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking `Nevermore.’
This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom’s core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion’s velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o’er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o’er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!
Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
`Wretch,’ I cried, `thy God hath lent thee – by these angels he has sent thee
Respite – respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore!’
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.’
`Prophet!’ said I, `thing of evil! – prophet still, if bird or devil! -
Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted -
On this home by horror haunted – tell me truly, I implore -
Is there – is there balm in Gilead? – tell me – tell me, I implore!’
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.’
`Prophet!’ said I, `thing of evil! – prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us – by that God we both adore -
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels named Lenore?’
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.’
`Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!’ I shrieked upstarting -
`Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken! – quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!’
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.’
And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted – nevermore! |
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April 7, 2007 at 1:14 am
Honestly, I’ve never liked this poem, because the narrator goes crazy from grief and then dies of what I believe is either heartbreak or loneliness. You can see the craziness begin with “Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer/Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.” Also, the fact that the raven is freaking talking to him is a huge claxon that he’s losing it. I think he dies because of the end stanza “And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting/On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;/
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,/
And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;/
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor/
Shall be lifted – nevermore!” The whole “soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor” part, I believe, is his dying, and his soul remaining in the room instead of joining Lenore’s in heaven.
April 8, 2007 at 2:59 am
This poem is more on the tragic side, however, the majority of Poe’s writings follow the same tragic and mysterious, yet, captivating style. This style of writing is reflective of the life that Poe lived. Edgar Allen Poe was born in the year 1809, by the time he was three both of his parents had died and he was sent to live with a family in Virginia. After studying in England and attending the University of Virginia for one year he enlisted in the army; he was sent to West Point, but dissmissed six months after his arrival. In 1929 his “foster” mother died and not soon after his “foster” father remarried. He moved in with his aunt, a widow, and his cousin who after returning from West Point he married once in secret and once publically–she was only thirteen. In his life many woman around him had died and in many of his stories including The Raven, Lenore–the female–is the person who was dead throughout the poem. Thus, proving that his work is a reflection of his life.
April 8, 2007 at 3:00 am
I forgot my sources they are as follows:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Allan_Poe
April 9, 2007 at 3:55 pm
I always did like this poem. Can’t really say why, just always held some interest with me.
I Decided to do some research on “Pallas” from
“Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door ”
Now, according to the internet, there are a bunch of people named Pallas, both male, female, godly and mortal, All hailing form Greek Mythology.
This particular bust refers to the a statue of the head of the Goddess Athena. Athena is the goddess of wisdom and reason and the more humane sides of war, Ares dealt with the violent part of conflict.
Poe obviously choose Athena because she represented wisdow and serenity, while the Raven represents chaos, depression and the like. The narrorator was calmly sitting and reading, before the Raven came and caused him to fall into a deep maddness by perching on the bust of Athena.
Thats a bunch of symbology right there.
Got some of that from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallas
The rest came from me.
April 9, 2007 at 11:14 pm
I love Poe. He is one of my favorite authors, and this has to be one of my favorite poems of his. In all his poems, if a person is dead, it tends to be a woman, symbolic of all the dead women in his life. In this poem, he talks an awful lot about a woman named Lenore, and I started to wonder if she represented one specific person, or a variety of woman from his life. This is what I found. Many different websites talked about Lenore representing his lost loves, but only one said that it was a specific person. It is thought that Lenore represents his wife Virginia, who died of Tuberculosis. Although she died after the poem was published, she was very sick while he was writing, and he probably used the poem as an outlet for his feelings. He chose the name Lenore, however, because it rhymed with more things, and his brother who had recently died was named William Henry Leonard Poe. He chose to honor 2 of the people that he loved very much in this poem.
Sources:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060629145921AAqpqDR
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenore
http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=00BYrx
April 10, 2007 at 2:00 am
The line containing the term Seraphim caught my eye in this reading because I have often heard the word seraph in some of my other readings reffering to an angel. With some research, I was able to find that Seraphim actually refers to a multiple winged angel of great power, and in some instances, the voice of God. Thus I agree with Garret in his interpretation of this story ending with the death of the narrator. With the passage “Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor”, I was covinced of his death, and the angel walking past his room to leave his soul there instead of taking it to heaven with his diceased lover.
April 10, 2007 at 2:00 am
Forgot the source again. Here it is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seraphim
April 10, 2007 at 9:14 pm
I was bored, so I looked online to see what came up when I entered “Nevermore” into the search. Oddly enough, I found something! Using wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevermore) I found that there is a band named Nevermore, who is classified as a progressive metal band from Washington (state). Upon further reading, I discovered that after releasing mulitple recordings, their album “Dreaming Neon Black” has an interesting storyline. The tracks on the disc discuss the story of a man who slowly goes mad due to the death of the only woman he ever loved. Irony? Also, the story is based on one of the band member’s life… how very Poe. I think that it’s interesting that the band Nevermore follows the storyline of The Raven, how there is a lost love and insanity, and also how the raven only says “nevermore”. I may be stretching a bit, but I think it’s pretty darn neat.
)
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevermore
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreaming_Neon_Black
April 11, 2007 at 1:05 am
I’m rather torn on what I think of Poe. I will be honest, I’ve never liked his writing due to his tendency towards repetition, though it certainly is dark and intriguing. Anyways, I had always wondered why Poe would choose a raven to torture his narrator, and so that’s where I went with this.
I found a website that said that the meaning of the raven depends substantially upon the culture. For Europeans, ravens are generally a bad omen, symbolizing death and departed spirits – which would make sense as to why Poe would choose a raven to send his narrator spiraling towards death (and his lost spirit of Lenore). In ancient Greek culture, however, the raven was Apollo’s symbol, and was the way through which Apollo communicated his prophecies. I was hoping that perhaps the raven would link up to Ares or Athena, so that John’s post and I could connect, but no such luck there. Anyways, it was not only in ancient Greece that the raven was a good figure. In many native American cultures, the raven provides mankind with what it needs to live (either by stealing food to give to them, or by making the land habitable, or even in one myth, making the journey from Asia across the Bering Strait). Finally, ravens are commonly used in Celtic and Welsh myths to symbolize spirits that have left the world, which would make sense in Poe’s work.
Seeing as Poe’s background is provided by Nicole, you should all know he stems from a European ancestry, and so his interpretation of a raven being the bearer of souls makes a lot of sense.
Sources for Raven symbolism:
http://www.askyewolfe.com/symbolism-raven.html
http://www.druidry.org/obod/lore/animal/raven.html
P.S. I found out that Poe almost used a parrot instead of a raven. I highly doubt this poem would be nearly as popular today if he had, in fact, used a parrot.
April 11, 2007 at 2:16 pm
Every time I read this poem, Poe’s words create a strong image in my head. I was curious to see whether or not there were pictures related to the poems online, so I looked it up in google. Here’s what I found:
http://www.udel.edu/PR/UDaily/2004/Ravenillstrnlg.jpg
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14082/14082-h/images/image4.png
The first link is more of how I pictured the poem in my head. It’s dark and gloomy and the man looks a lot more frightened by the raven flying in his window than the man in the second picture.
April 11, 2007 at 7:10 pm
Greetings my fellow honor students,
Okay, I absolutely love, love, love this poem. The rhyming scheme is great, and the feeling of absolute madness throughout the entire poem helps me to feel a bit more sane in comparison.
I was curious about the character of Lenore, who he speaks about many, many times. Wikipedia informed me that Lenore is a character taken from another Poe poem titled, “A Paean”, and later re-titled, “Lenore” in 1843. Many people believe that creating the character Lenore was Poe’s way of dealing with the death of his wife, Virginia. Others believed the character was a tribute, in part, to Poe’s recently deceased brother, William Henry Leonard Poe.
I also wondered about the reference to Aidenn, which I was informed by Wikipedia is actually a reference to Eden. I had a bit of a hard time connecting the two… but I suppose it makes sense in imploring, “Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn”, which might be asking if he’ll be meeting Lenore in a distant EDEN, making reference to the garden of Eden… I might be making a huge stretch with this, but it made sense in my mind somewhere along the way.
mmmkay, I hope this added to everyon’es understanding of the Poem.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aidenn
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenore
April 11, 2007 at 9:13 pm
Whenever I hear the name Edgar Allen Poe, and especially when I hear the title of his poem, “The Raven”, it always makes me think of ‘Alice in Wonderland’. When Alice is having tea with The Mad-Hatter and The March Hare they ask her to solve a riddle: why is a raven like a writing desk? The answer: because Edgar Allen Poe wrote on both of them! It got me thinking, how many other references have been made in literature, or other creative works, to Poe or his work? I happened to find a website that has just what I was looking for. The surprising thing? The reference to Poe and “The Raven” from ‘Alice and Wonderland’ was not on the list!!! I think I’m going to suggest that it be added.
Poe is clearly one of the most well-known American authors, for his time, and probably for all time. There have been references to him and his work in literature, movies, music and more. One of the most interesting things I found that I never knew was that a professional football team was named for Poe. Can you guess which one?
To check out some more fun references to Poe, just go to the following website.
http://www.poedecoder.com/Qrisse/footprints.php
April 12, 2007 at 1:24 am
This poem has always been a favorite of mine. Poe has such a way of capturing the emotions of people who are being tormented. In 8th grade this poem was nearly ruined for me when my English teacher split us up into groups and made us rewrite this poem line for line in “a language we can understand”, but that’s besides the point….
In this poem, Poe is saying that you can’t just ignore grief, you must embrace it otherwise it will always be there perched on your door, so to speak. It’s quite obvious why he chose a raven to for this, they represent death and despair. Since I’ve read this poem so much I too decided to do some research on phrases I didn’t recognize. Seraphim as in ” Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor” according to wikipedia has different meanings in different religions. In christianity Seraphim belonged to the highest order of angels and they gaurd God’s throne. I also looked up the meaning of nepenthe in
“Respite – respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore!”
Appearantly it’s a drug of forgetfullness in Greek mythology and literally translates to be “the one that chases away sorrow”, which is obviously significant in this poem. The sites I used are
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepenthe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seraphim
April 12, 2007 at 2:36 am
Edgar Allen Poe once again leaves us wondering if the narrator is trustworthy. Often Poe has a way of making the reader question what is reality and what is the narrator creating from his own psychosis. In this case the narrator describes the visiting of a raven, the symbol of death. He also refers to the god Pluto who is equivalent to Hades the god of the underworld. What is really intriguing about this poem is how it slowly builds the character into a frenzy. There begins the rustling of the curtains, the dark atmosphere, the dying embers of the fire. The man is plagued by his lost loved one, Lenore, whom he is so caught up in that he creates the astounding raven who cries the infamous “nevermore”. This word is probably the one that the narrator is unable to admit to himself. In death, everything becomes “nevermore”, however, the narrator is having difficulty in accepting that, his subconscious comes forward and forces him to hear the words he wishes to ignore, but he cannot. Poe adds great symbolism by using the black bird, and also tying in mythology to further intone the grieving of the man for his lost love.
“Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore.”
I just thought I’d put in this line because I really enjoyed it, and it gives the bird a very powerful entrance. The raven almost seems all knowing and wise. Interesting how the narrator almost laughs or smiles at the bird because it looks so unusually proper, yet in the end his words send the narrator into a panic.
“But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o’er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!”
This is the first description the narrator uses to understand why the raven has said ‘nevermore’. I thought it was odd that he would say “She shall press”, this made her sound almost like a burden and I wonder if we should question if Lenore was possibly murdered. I couldn’t find any other justification and there’s probably another reason for using the expression of her “pressing” or “bothering” maybe. Still it’s obvious that the narrator is lonely for this woman.
April 12, 2007 at 4:17 am
“The Raven” on a Simpson’s episode: Treehouse of Horror, Episode 16
Originally aired on October 24, 1990
I decided to discuss the popular cartoon, The Simpsons. They had a Halloween special which was based on Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven.” Because of this episode, the poem only reminds me of the Simpsons everytime I read or listen to it. I wanted to share with all of you a brief summary of the Simpsons’ version, as well as a picture and video. If you watch the video, you will notice the scene does not include all of the lines in the poem.
The scene within the episode begins with Lisa and Bart being in the treehouse. Lisa calls Bart over to where she is sitting so that she can read “The Raven” to him. The scene then transitions into James Earl Jones narrating Poe’s work while Homer is the main character and Marge is Lenore. Homer sleeps in front of a fireplace and awakens to knocking on the door. He goes and checks to see who is there to find nobody. Homer opens a window and a raven that really looks like Bart in a bird costume flies in and perches itself in his living room on top of the door. The raven makes Homer nervous and Homer yells for the raven to go back where it came from. Next, Seraphim, who resembles Maggie and Lisa, comes in and sprinkles perfume from up above. Homer runs about attempting to capture the raven, and then collapses. In his exhausted state, Homer realizes he will not see the lost Lenore ever again.
The episode ends when cutting back to the normal Simpson family as they go to bed. The three children fall asleep peacefully, but Homer begs Marge not to turn out the lights because he is frightened. Marge turns the lights out and Homer notices a raven in the window. The episode closes with Homer pulling the blankets over his head.
http://www.tv.com/the-simpsons/treehouse-of-horror/episode/1301/recap.html
Picture:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:TheSimpsonsRaven.png
Video:
April 12, 2007 at 5:08 am
I have always thought there was something hauntingly beautiful about this poem. When reading the poem, there are the few obvious symbols, like: The Raven and The Bust of Pallas. I was curious as to what other symbols could be pulled from the poem. The first few sentences are my favorite and when I went off from those, I was able to discover some other symbols. Like the words “midnight” and “december” signal the ending of something, while also introducing the start of something new at the same time. The chamber that the narrator is in, also symbolizes the lonliness captivating him. There were also some words that I was curious about and one site was able to answer all of these questions for me. A nepenthe is a potion to cause forgetfullness of pain + sorrow. Aidenn is an arabic word for Eden or paradise, while Plutonian is a characteristic of Pluto, the god of the underworld.
“While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping.” The rhyming is also wonderful and really keeps the flow of the poem.
Also a side note to the repetition of the poem, there is also my favorite: Alliteration.
Source for Discussion:
http://www.poedecoder.com/essays/raven/
April 12, 2007 at 1:32 pm
Well this poem was interesting. I just wanted to say that. Now back to the real point of this reply. I did some research on the word Aidenn. Of course by now, most of you know that the word derives from the Hebrew word of Eden. Most of us know that the Garden of Eden is where God moulds Adam from the dust of the Earth, then forms Eve from one of Adam’s ribs and places them both in the garden. Over time the word “Paradise” seems to be intimately linked between it and the Garden of Eden. Thus, when the narrator asks the Raven
By that Heaven that bends above us – by that God we both adore -
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels named Lenore?’, I get the impression that he is asking if his wife passed on to a place of paradise, if she passed on to heaven. And when the Raven answers ‘Nevermore’ the narrarator may assume that her sins have placed her into a hell-like place, obviously upsetting the narrator. Thats my take on it.
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n161/clonedintoevil/418px-CranFall.jpg
sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_of_Eden
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Aidenn
April 12, 2007 at 1:34 pm
[IMG]http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n161/clonedintoevil/418px-CranFall.jpg[/IMG]
just trying something out sooo if this doesnt work delete me. you should see a pic without it being a link but if not delete
April 12, 2007 at 3:52 pm
Since our wonderful discussion last class about presentism in poetry, I decided to focus my blog on The Raven in popular culture.
The Raven has been referenced in many works, from print, to movies, tv, to music.
In print, Stephen King and Peter Straub reference The Raven in their novel “Black House” by featuring a talking crow, and naming the third section in the book “Night’s Plutonian Shore”.
Stephen King also referenced The Raven in his novel, “Insomnia” in which a character named Ralph compares an omen to the bird in the poem.
A comic of Donald Duck also referenced The Raven by having a story featuring Huey, Dewey, and Louie playing with a raven that can only say “nevermore”.
In movies there have also been some references. In Batman (1989), The Joker quotes a line in the poem to Vicky Vale, saying “Take thy beak out from my heart.”
Roger Corman’s film, The Raven (1963), was completely based on the poem.
Also, television has made quite a few references. Some of those include:
An episode of The Simpons, entitled “Treehouse of Horror” in which Bart is represented as the raven, and Homer the narrator.
Several other cartoons have made references to The Raven, including:
Tiny Toon Adventures, Beetlejuice, and My Gym Partner’s a Monkey.
The Munsters sitcom also featured a coo-koo clock bird that would have a raven come out saying “nevermore, nevermore” instead of coo-koo.
In music, it is not surprising that many dark, heavy metal bands have had songs referencing The Raven. These include, but are not limited to, Carpathian Forest on their album “Through Chasm, Caves, and Titan Woods” (1995), and Tristania in their song “My Lost Lenore” (1998).
Lou Reed’s album, “The Raven” (2003) is based on Poe’s work, including “The Raven” put to music. (http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,2508891,00.html)
These aren’t all of the references, but there are enough to understand that this poem has had a tremendous impact on cultures, even today, so many years after its publication. It continues to be referenced to, and intrepreted, through film, print, music, etc.
Main Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raven_in_popular_culture
April 12, 2007 at 10:52 pm
The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe is great poetry that is full of symbolism. Some people have touched on the raven, which is a symbol of guilt, depression, sadness, and anxiety; as well as the bust of Pallas which refers to the statue of the head of Athena, goddess of wisdom and reason. While researching this poem, I found that when writing this poem, Edgar Allen Poe had considered using a parrot instead of a raven but decided that the tone of a parrot was to melancholy and that the symbolism of ravens as birds of ill-omen, that a raven would better suit the poem and the overall mood of the poem.
It is speculated that the raven landed on the bust of Pallas because Pallas represents wisdom and this would lead the narrator to believe that the raven spoke from wisdom. It was also stated by Poe that another reason he used the word Pallas simply because of how it sounded.
Another symbol may be the use of ‘midnight’ and ‘december’ in the first and second verses respectively. Both of these signify the end of something. Midnigh symbolizes the end of a day, and December symbolizes the end of a year. However, both could also symbolize something new, or change. Midnight would signify that a new day was about to arrive, and december could signify that a new year is about to arrive.
The Chamber in which the narrator has secluded himself symbolizes the loneliness that he feels. It also signifies the sorrow that he is feeling because of the loss of ‘his lenore’. The chamber is furnished so nicely to remind the narrator of the love he lost.
The source where I found this information also states that: “The phrase “from out my heart,” Poe claims, is used, in combination with the answer “Nevermore,” to let the narrator realize that he should not try to seek a moral in what has been previously narrated” I found this very interesting and it makes me wonder what then the point of this poem is. Does anyone have any thoughts?
The source where I found this info is:
http://www.poedecoder.com/essays/raven/