Most people have something in their life or in their past that is probably worth collapsing to the ground and crying over. Some people may have experienced a lost love; others, the tragic death of a loved one. Maybe someone could spout tears just thinking about his or her internal struggle. Edgar Allan Poe would undoubtedly collapse to the ground and cry, but he would most likely have trouble explaining what aspect of his life led him to do so. Maybe he would cry over the deaths of his mother, his foster mother, and his wife, all three of which died of tuberculosis. He could possibly cry over his father abandoning him, or his wicked foster father, John Allan. No matter what he would choose, all of these tragic life events shaped Poe and his
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In line 48 of the poem, the famous line, “Quoth the raven, Nevermore,” is introduced for the first time (Poe). This line is used as a refrain for the remainder of the poem; each time it is used, the speaker seems to believe it a little more (Grayson 4). “Though its answer little meaning,” at first, the raven’s repetitive answer completely takes apart the narrator, turning him into a shuddering wreck, deciding that the raven is a “…thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil!” (lines 40, 85). Although the speaker seems to be completely mad at this point, in lines 94-95, he makes one last reference to Lenore, his lost love, when he determines that she is an ideal, a symbol of what the narrator thinks a perfect woman ought to be; she stops being human and becomes a heavenly saint. The narrator asks if he shall ever be able to “clasp” the deceased maiden, Lenore. The raven replies with its famous, “Nevermore” – an emotive word that Poe constantly uses, illustrating longing and despair. The word is filled with this sense that nothing will get better, no matter how badly the speaker wants it to (Fultz, Wright, and Castle). Through his carefully organized, hypnotic rhyming trochaic octameter, Poe tells the tale of a man longing for his lost love, being driven to the brink of …show more content…
Annabel is first introduced in line 4 of the poem, where she is introduced as a “maiden,” a perfect fit for the “kingdom by the sea” (lines 2-3). In a way, this girl seems more like a fairy-tale character than a real girl, and this theory is helped by the speaker’s unrealistic exaggerations, such as the fact that she has "no other thought" than loving the speaker (Pruette 380). The sweet memories of Annabel begin to fade as the image of her death creeps in; by the middle of the poem, a wind has “…come out of the cloud, chilling / And killing (his) Annabel Lee” (lines 25-26). Annabel is mentioned three more times in the poem, in the refrain, “Of the beautiful Annabel Lee,” which almost becomes an echo of the speaker’s desperate attempts to remember his “life” and his “bride”. The feelings of the speaker in this poem are, unsurprisingly, similar to those of Poe’s after the death of his wife,
In line 48 of the poem, the famous line, “Quoth the raven, Nevermore,” is introduced for the first time (Poe). This line is used as a refrain for the remainder of the poem; each time it is used, the speaker seems to believe it a little more (Grayson 4). “Though its answer little meaning,” at first, the raven’s repetitive answer completely takes apart the narrator, turning him into a shuddering wreck, deciding that the raven is a “…thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil!” (lines 40, 85). Although the speaker seems to be completely mad at this point, in lines 94-95, he makes one last reference to Lenore, his lost love, when he determines that she is an ideal, a symbol of what the narrator thinks a perfect woman ought to be; she stops being human and becomes a heavenly saint. The narrator asks if he shall ever be able to “clasp” the deceased maiden, Lenore. The raven replies with its famous, “Nevermore” – an emotive word that Poe constantly uses, illustrating longing and despair. The word is filled with this sense that nothing will get better, no matter how badly the speaker wants it to (Fultz, Wright, and Castle). Through his carefully organized, hypnotic rhyming trochaic octameter, Poe tells the tale of a man longing for his lost love, being driven to the brink of …show more content…
Annabel is first introduced in line 4 of the poem, where she is introduced as a “maiden,” a perfect fit for the “kingdom by the sea” (lines 2-3). In a way, this girl seems more like a fairy-tale character than a real girl, and this theory is helped by the speaker’s unrealistic exaggerations, such as the fact that she has "no other thought" than loving the speaker (Pruette 380). The sweet memories of Annabel begin to fade as the image of her death creeps in; by the middle of the poem, a wind has “…come out of the cloud, chilling / And killing (his) Annabel Lee” (lines 25-26). Annabel is mentioned three more times in the poem, in the refrain, “Of the beautiful Annabel Lee,” which almost becomes an echo of the speaker’s desperate attempts to remember his “life” and his “bride”. The feelings of the speaker in this poem are, unsurprisingly, similar to those of Poe’s after the death of his wife,