the Raven

            Edgar Allen Poe's poem, "The Raven," is a classic poem. It has an iambic tetrameter rhythm with six lines per stanza. The rhyming scheme is an abcbb (b) pattern. This makes the poem very choppy and rhythmic, but gives it a sense of suspense and terror. .
             One December evening, a man is attempting to find some consolation from the remembrance of his lost love by reading. He began to fall asleep, but his nap was interrupted by a knock at his door. The narrator first believed the knock to be a dream, but he finally decided to open the door, only to be greeted by darkness. A rush of fear came over him, and he can only say the word "Lenore" (the name of his lost loved one) as he looked into the darkness.
             Immediately after he closed the door, another knock was heard from the room's window. The narrator threw open the shutter and a large raven stepped into the room. Somewhat amused by the animal, the speaker began to talk to the creature, but the bird replied "Nevermore" to each comment. In the middle of his attempt to figure out the bird, the thought of Lenore entered his mind. Grief overcame him, and the narrator realized that the raven was intended to deliver him from his suffering, when it replied again, "Nevermore.".
             The speaker then viciously scolded the bird, calling it a "thing of evil." Shouting maniacally and demanding that the bird leave, the narrator attempted to send the bird back to the shores of Hell, from where it came. The bird replied again with "Nevermore," and remained sitting in the dark room to torment to the speaker's soul and remind him of his lost love.
             Symbolism and imagery play important roles in this piece. The simple fact that the poem takes place in dreary December gives Poe's readers a cold and chilling image. At the beginning of the poem, the narrator is experiencing sorrow for the "lost Lenore" (Poe 627). This is an expression of death, portraying a grim image.