The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe Complete Poem & Themes
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Poem
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 name 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 stillness 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 upon 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 farther then he uttered not a feather then he fluttered
Till I scarcely more than muttered Other friends have flown before
On the morrow he will 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 fancy 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, ghastly, 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 over,
But whose velvet-violet lining with the lamp-light gloating over,
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 hath 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 hauntedtell 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 name Lenore
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name 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 over 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!
-Edgar Allan Poe
Theme
Read this article to know about the theme in "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe.
Introduction
"The Raven” is written by an American writer Edgar Allen Poe. This poem is his narrative poem. It was published first in January 1845. This poem is often notable for its stylized language, musicality and supernatural atmosphere created by the writer.
The poem tells of a talking raven, and it’s mysterious visit to a distraught lover. As with many other of Edger’s works, this poem “The Raven” also expresses and explores death.
Especially this poem of Poe’s explores the effects of death on life and living, such as mourning, grief and all the memories of deceased, as well as a question that so often hurts those who have lost their loved ones to death. Whether there is an afterlife, in which they will be rejoined with the dead.
Themes and Symbols in The Raven
Death and Afterlife
The Narrator is grieving alone in the dark, in a cheerless room, “weak and weary.” By reading his book, he portrays himself as he is trying to find out the surcease of sorrow and grief. One might read this as he describes the reading of the narrator from the book of “forgotten lore” to show that he is in search of arcane knowledge about how to invert death.
One can have the impression in his mind after reading that this is an effort of the narrator who tries to distract himself and thereby escape from the pain of their loved one’s death. In another case, we see the narrator reaction to the death of a loved one is fairly typical, to try to escape the pain of it. Or to attempt to deny death.
Loss and Memory
When the student dwelt in sorrow and half dreaming of his loved ones, He hears a sound of tapping on his window, he opens the window considering a raven, who has escaped from his master, who’s in search of a shelter from the storm.
The raven only can speak one word, “Nevermore.” When this incident amuses the narrator, he asks the raven a question. The raven only replies “Nevermore” which seems a musical echo in his heart.
Spiritual Subconscious
The stormy midnight hour and the sorrow of the student contribute to the general effect of the poem. But the most important thing is the sound of the refrain, which established even before the raven appears by the dead.
By the word “Nevermore” and the echo of the word “O' Leonore” is further highlighted in stanza 6 when the student gazes into the darkness and whispers “Leonore?” only for the echo of that specific word, “Merely this and nothing more”.
Once the lost Lenore proposed as the beginning of the student’s grief, the presence of the raven as a description of objectification of this sorrow looks poetically justified. The student wonders after asking the question and hearing the ominous word from the raven, the bird’s ability to speak the word but understands that the word has no original meaning or relevance.
The significance of the bird’s answer depends solely on the nature of the question or remarks the student puts to it. Like when he says that the bird will leave tomorrow, “all of his hope flown before.” He is surprised by the seemingly relevant reply “Nevermore.”
One answer to the question “Nevermore"
By repeating “Nevermore,” the student starts to wonder that what the ominous bird means by repeating the same word. The god has sent him to rest from his sorrow and the memory of Leonore perhaps when he cries.
The same word that birds repeat makes the student to call him a prophet and forces him to ask it if after death and wants to ask many other questions but he knows that the bird will give him the same answer, nevermore.
Influence and Irrationality
He is obsessively pushing his needs for self-torture to its ultimate extreme. This poem is often dismissed as a cold-blooded expedient. It seems that it’s a carefully designed expression of the human need to torture the self and to find meaning in the meaninglessness.
