Man Vs. Nature In Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven

Alexis Franzen

Poetry Essay

November 3, 2015

Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” in nature

Edgar Allen Poe shows a strong sense of man vs. nature in his poem “The Raven” by giving several instances of natural conflicts such as: outside supernatural sense, the wind, and the raven.

As we, the readers, know, in the beginning the narrator, who may be Poe the poem is not specifically clear, is sitting in his chamber. He is thinking of his lost love, Lenore, “From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore— / For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—” (2, 10-11). I believe most of this paranoia could be derived from a deep sense of sorrow that the narrator is having due to the loss of his love.

The narrator seems to have

The wind is the next element introduced in the poem that has a deeper meaning than just simply being the blowing of air throughout the earth. When the tapping returns Poe’s narrator tries to find comfort by ensuring himself that there is surely something tangible tapping at his window’s lattice. Although he has already made up in his mind that there is something out there the character exhibits the need for evidence when he still can’t resist letting himself “see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore— / let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore / ‘Tis the wind and nothing more!” (6, 36-37).

The wind seems to be a symbol of hope. Hope that he has entrusted in the form of nature. A hope that maybe he can trust that there is no such thing as a ghost that is lurking around tapping on his widows and chamber doors. The narrator looks for a way to make the wind the source of his problems instead of the potential cause that he is having repercussions from a broken