The Raven Mood

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For many years, humans have expressed thoughts through language. The first language was most likely rudimentary, lacking structure and norms; however, as societies rose and fell languages became more complex. Eventually speakers needed a mode in which to keep a record of spoken word. The need for a recordkeeping system drove the creation of writing systems. Writing systems have further facilitated the advancement of language. Poetry, usually involving complex rhyme and meter schemes would be much more difficult to create without an alphabet. The English language has been used poetically by many authors through the centuries that people have spoken and written it. One of the most well-known English speaking poets is Edgar Allan Poe. …show more content…

The mood is set for the poem at the very commencement by Poe writing, “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary” (line 1). In the first stanza, the narrator is clearly in a drab mood over an issue which has not yet been revealed in the poem, the weather outside is equally dull. The second stanza elaborates upon the narrator; he is in mourning over the death of a woman who he loved and is, without success, attempting to study (Poe 9-10). The mourner’s brooding is interrupted by a perceived disturbance at the door to his chamber. The narrator concludes, with esperance, that the disturbance is merely a visitor; however, upon opening the door, he disappointingly encounters nobody (Poe 3-24). The build up from a dark and gloomy mood to a mood of suspense that is broken anticlimactically, returning the poem to a dark and gloomy mood, is a recurring theme of “The Raven.” Later in the poem, suspense is built by the main character asking the raven questions that the Raven always answers by saying, “nevermore.” The narrator’s expectancy to hear an answer other than nevermore builds the character’s frustration with the bird. The mood of the narrator progresses as the poem progresses because of his conflict with the raven, or perhaps himself. In the very beginning of the poem the narrator is in a state of mourning, but his mood …show more content…

Through reading the actions of the main character, an unnamed man who is mourning the loss of a woman, the reader can discern the mood of the situation that is occurring. In addition to telling the story through the actions of the narrator, Edgar Allan Poe is able to create and alter the mood and tone of the play through the form in which the play is written. The meter of the stanzas is used to create a microcosm of the poem as a whole. Alliteration, consonance, and internal rhyming are used to give the poem a mystical, flowing tone. The language used in “The Raven” is deliberately chosen to convey the mood of the poem, usually in a dark, grim manner. Color is used to cue mood changes of the poem in several places. “The Raven” is a poem that has entertained readers for many years due to Edgar Allan Poe’s excellent ability as a

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