Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven

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Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven

Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven,” though parodied, republished, and altered countless times, has withstood the test of time as one of the most recognizable and famous works of poetry in the English language. Carefully measured stanzas with a fascinating rhyme scheme embedded throughout, together with the unique and completely individualistic style of its author, are but a few of the elements that combine to elevate this poem in the public eye. It reaches an as-yet-unparalleled plane of poetic excellence. It is imperative, then, for the reader to understand that the conflict presented in “The Raven” is not the commonly-assumed “Man vs. Animal,” as though to embody the plight of the man as he pits himself against the inexorable and daunting raven who crouches before him, but rather “Man vs. Himself.”

Unfortunately, a sad mistake is predominantly concluded upon by the public at large as they study this piece. Many readers view the titular character as being the sinister, twisted daemon sent from hell to torment its host. This, while at a preliminary reading may appear to be the case, is not the theory widely accepted both by scholars and serious contemporary students. The repeated negative answer is not a warning, prophecy, or ill-spoken omen. The bird is no oracle. Poe himself tells us that the creature’s “ ‘only stock and store, / Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster” / Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore- / Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore’ ” is, in fact, “ ‘ “Never- nevermore”’” (62-66). It is interesting to note that Poe originally postulated placing a parrot in this role, but opted for a raven as “equally ...

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...eming of a demon’s that is dreaming,

And the lamplight o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;

And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor

Shall be lifted- nevermore!

This work deftly captures the inward and hidden desire that all men and women face in the maelstrom of grief that accompanies the death of their true love. As has been noted, it is not the raven that carries with it the agony. The raven is merely the catalyst, acting upon the pent-up agony that already exists within the bosom of the narrator. Here we find true, seldom-revealed human nature in striking clarity. “The Raven” is as timeless as it is human, and as long as lovers love and the living die, it will remain a horrifyingly accurate representation of life as many would not care to admit. Therein lies its strength, and therein lies its beauty.

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