Edgar Allan Poe's Poem, The Raven

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Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven”, represents his own crisis, which is unusually moving and eye-catching to any reader. The tone of the poem seems to represent an agonizing state of mind, moments of insanity, and depression brought on by the death of his beloved Lenore. His poem exhibits the sorrow that the death of a loved one brings will stay with you forever. Poe communicated this theme through his tone, language, and insinuations. The tone in his poem starts out sounding tired and weak from his use of the words “midnight dreary” and “weak and weary.” Insinuating that this is occurring at the midnight hour and that he states that he “nodded, nearly napping.” It’s possible he could have even just dreamt that all this occurred. We are told…show more content…
He gathers enough courage to then speak to the visitor at his door, and when no one answers he opens the door and sees only darkness. You can begin to sense his heartbreak as he whispers into the darkness, “Lenore” hoping for a response. Is he really hearing her or is it just an echo if his own words. As he returns to his chamber he soon hears tapping, stronger this time, and coming from the window. He decides to explore this tapping and tries to calm himself as he approaches the window opening the shutters and in steps a raven. The raven then perched on the bust of Pallas over his chamber door. He is calmed and somewhat entertained by the birds’ entrance. He asks the bird his name and is stunned when the bird answers, “Nevermore.” He is puzzled by the birds’ response, and has no idea of what to make of this bird. He welcomes the bird thinking that it will be gone in the morning; “On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.” He feels that the word “Nevermore” is out of repetition, and has nothing to do with his own state of mind or speaking the hurt he is feeling of his loss of Lenore. He seems to be feeling paranoid and has a sense of denial. His thoughts turn to the raven being
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