Pallas is the goddess of wisdom, and an eerie feeling is felt as the raven sits upon it and appears to speak nonsense. When questioned about his reasoning for using the bust of Pallas in his poem, Poe replied because of the "sonorous of the word, Pallas, itself." Two other symbols that are not so apparent are the use of "midnight" and "December". Both signify darkness, an end, or a change to.
something new. The chamber the narrator speaks from could be interpreted as a symbol, as it represents loneliness. The expensive furnishings of the chamber appear to say that the beauty and riches the man surrounds him in; will not replace his love (Qrisse, Internet). Edgar Allan Poe intertwined all these symbols in "The Raven", a deliciously twisted poem about the death of beauty and the heartache it causes.
Poe lived a solitary, reckless life, which included the use of alcohol and drugs. Born in 1809 to parents, Eliza Poe and David Poe Jr., he was orphaned before the age of three. His father died at the age of 36 and his mother died at 24 from tuberculosis (Payge's, Internet). Poe was sent live with foster parents, John and Fanny Allan. In 1826, he entered the University of Virginia. He was a good student, but eventually turned to gambling to pay debts. It was during this time that Poe had his first romantic interest, which ended on a harsh note. Despite grades and ambition, Poe had to leave college because of lack of money. A year later he enlisted in the army for two years, after which he entered WestPoint. Then, halting his solitary life, Edgar married his 13-year-old cousin, Virginia, in 1836. On October 5, 1849, he was found unconscious and on drugs; three days later he died, possibly of rabies (Qrisse, Internet) (see Appendix R). Edgar Allan Poe's appearance is a surprisingly interesting topic, one that may be addressed with some importance.
Poe was apparently an attractive, fit man (perhaps due to his earlier, short-lived military career).