Use of Poetic Devices in Poe's The Raven.
In Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven, he uses many devices commonly seen in poetry. These devices are what makes his poem effective to the reader and draws the reader into the story being told. He also uses these devices to set an uneasy tone in the poem so the reader can never predict what is to happen next.
In The Raven, Poe sets the poem at midnight in the cold, gloomy month of December, "Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary- (997) This setting fulfills Poe's desire to create a dismal tone. He uses midnight as it is a very dark and mysterious time of day. "Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December- (997) Poe chose December because it is a time when trees and wildlife are dead and many people stay inside, this gives the poem a feeling of death and solitude. The month of December can also be give the reader the impression of the ending of a major part of the narrator's life, being that December is the end of the year. .
Poe uses two major tones in his poem, that of melancholy and of mourning. Rather than simply describing the narrator to be sitting in a room, Poe says he sits in a chamber which sparks thoughts of solitude and loneliness. He gives the room a creepy feel, as he describes things he sees around the room, "And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before." (997) Poe describes the fire as casting ghosts on the floor to make the reader feel an uneasy presence in the room. The second part of the quote further sets a feeling of melancholy, describing the curtains as being sad, while incorporating the narrator's fear to show that something unexpected is to happen next. .
Poe incorporates the use of symbolism to make his readers really think .
about the objects in his poem and what their significance truly is.
