Literary Elements of The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

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Edgar Allan Poe is an American writer and is considered the founder of the horror story. Most of his work is dark and gloomy. This can be seen both in his prose and in his poetry. Poe’s writings are sometimes considered bizarre as the writer himself, but in fact they are profoundly artistically developed. His literary creations are perfect examples of Romantic and Gothic literature. In them he explores the world of the human mind, including the imagination and dreams. He wants the reader to be able to fully envision the scene as if he was there in the story. A good example of this can be found in his poem “The Raven”, which was first published in 1845. Poe wrote it when he was going through some difficult times and this is reflected in the overall feeling, which is emitted from the poem. Poe’s description of the setting in “The Raven” and his use of figurative language and symbolism help create one of the best poems he wrote and an atmosphere, which can still be felt by the readers today.
One of the strongest elements of this poem is its setting and the atmosphere, which is created by it. Poe pays great attention to even the smallest detail, which has its significant meaning within the whole. In various lines he describes the setting and without even noticing it the reader is getting a very clear picture of it. At the beginning Poe only states that it is a “dreary” midnight and therefore nothing exciting or joyful can be expected. After the plot starts evolving it suddenly stops and Poe returns to describing the scene. The character is sitting in a “chamber” reading books to forget his grief. Instead of using the word room, chamber is used to evoke a feeling of mystery and maybe even antiquity. It is December, there is a fire bur...

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...e to better understand them. There is a lot of mythology in “The Raven”, which gives it an ancient and mystical feeling. Today’s readers are for sure impressed by it in the same way people in the 19th century were, however not as scared.
In order to create a memorable and intense poem Poe uses various literary elements such as a strong setting, figurative language and symbolism. The setting in “The Raven” establishes the needed atmosphere in order to correctly feel what the main character is going through. The figurative language gives the poem a high level of artistic value. Finally the symbolism incorporates many layers of meanings into the poem. All of this can still be felt by readers today, although it does not seem as scary as Poe may have though it is. It has been, is and will remain to be one of the best poems Poe or even American literature has to offer.

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