Edgar Allan Poe's Poem, The Raven

If a raven came to you and spoke only one word to you, what would that word be? In the narrative poem by Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven, his raven spoke only the word “Nevermore”. This poem tells the story a man losing his love, Lenore, as he speaks to the raven about her. The main theme of this poem is the narrator’s undying love. He struggles with the desire to forget about Lenore and the desire to remember Lenore. There is a motif in this poem which is the raven itself. Ravens are often mentioned in other folklore stories and narrative poem including in the Bible. The narrator asks the raven many questions and even though the raven only speaks one word, the narrator continues to ask questions which shows the amount of depth he feels for the loss of Lenore. In the beginning of the poem, the narrator dismisses the tapping on his chamber door. He thinks of his love and how much sorrow it brings him now that she is gone. After some time, he answers the door to see nothing is there. He stands in the doorway and hopes for Lenore as he whispers her name into the darkness. This is the first sign we see how …show more content…
Once he opens his shutter and a raven stood at his window. The narrator then describes what the raven does and the bust he perches himself on. He discusses the raven brings him some joy because it is “wandering from the Nightly shore”. When the narrator mentions the Plutonian shore, he is talking about the afterlife which is taught through roman myths. The narrator asks for the name of the raven, not expecting an answer in return but the raven speaks “nevermore”. He continues talking to the raven asking if he will leave tomorrow like his hopes have and the raven simply speaks the one word. When the narrator says “as my Hopes have flown before”, this gives the readers a glimpse of his inner struggle for the desire to forget the pain he