Edgar Allan Poe The Raven Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Edgar Allan Poe The Raven - Research Paper Example It was possible that Lenore was the deceased woman being referred to in the poem (Cummings , par 9). The poem tells of a bereaved man who is completely devastated by the lost his loved one, Lenore. Suddenly in his moment of sadness, a raven appears who keeps on repeating the word â€Å"nevermore†, as if telling the man that he will never see his beloved again, not even in heaven. As in most works of Poe, â€Å"The Raven† has a very melancholy tone which is emphasized by Poe’s use of words such as â€Å"weary†, â€Å"dreary†, â€Å"bleak†, â€Å"dying†, â€Å"sorrow†, â€Å"darkness†, â€Å"stillness†, â€Å"ebony† and â€Å"grave† (Cummings , par 7). He also uses internal and end rhymes and alliterations to enhance the theme of the poem. â€Å"The Raven† was first published on January 29, 1845 in the New York Evening Mirror (eNotes.com, Inc. , par 1). It is said that the sources of â€Å"The Raven† are Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s â€Å"Lady Geraldine’s 1843 Courtship†, Charles Dickens’ â€Å"Barnaby Rudge† and the two poems by Thomas Holly Chivers, â€Å"To Allegra Florence† and â€Å"Isadore† (eNotes.com, Inc. , par 1). Poe revealed in his â€Å"The Philosophy of Composition† that he wrote about death in â€Å"The Raven† after asking himself what it is among the universal understanding of mankind is the most melancholy (Poe , par 20). Furthermore, he also asked himself what it is that is most universally appreciable and his answer was â€Å"beauty† (Poe , par 13). Having these two topics in mind, he then thought of combining them and writing a poem about the death of a beautiful woman which he considered â€Å"the most poetical to pic in the world† (Poe , par 20). In terms of symbolism, Poe also considered using a parrot in the poem because it was capable of speech. However, he decided to use a raven instead since the theme of the poem is melancholy. A raven is known to be a bird which symbolizes ill omen; thus, Poe decided that it was more