Analysis of the poem “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe
In any academic, poetry analysis is imperative to the completeness and understanding of what a poet tries to convey to the readers. Such analysis promotes the empathy of a poem and promotes readership. Comprehension is also uplifted in a big way as people are made to have a different scope of a poem, as they now take the aspects of the poem with a different approach. Poetry analysis heightens the literary appreciation to a poetry work. In the long run, this creates a mastery of poetry as an art. That is why the “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe stands to be an exemplary piece that is fit for some analytical approaches.
In the manner of form, the poem narrates what the poet feels. Whatever happens, is an assertion that some things have happened to the persona. The poem is introduced with an aura of mystery, where a reader is left with the urge to read more and have some analysis to help their comprehension. The supposition of narration is seen in line one of the poems, where the narrator begins with an opening formula, “once upon a time.” The opening formula is a style that is not common in poetry. The aura of mystery is made explicit in line one, where we have “midnight dreary.” This is a direct allusion to unknown and dread. The events in the poem occur at night, and it is lackluster, giving the poem a sense of superstition.
The persona is a lover, who is in lament over a person he loves; Lenore. The Raven is given human attributes, as the persona speaks of it, where it utters the word “nevermore.” This can be attributed to the mental turmoil that the persona is in, as he has lost someone he loves, and cannot possibly forget. The word that the raven utters is an attribute for desperation. The death of Lenore is seen to have adverse effects as one can clearly see that he is behaving in a manner that can make get into oblivion. The raven is seen to be drawing the persona into some sense of insanity and a trigger to painful memories that are still alive.
Regarding the form, the poem is a trochaic octameter which has a regular rhyme scheme; ABCBBB. There are eight pairs of syllables. This rhyme, with the accompaniment of the meter, gives the poem a musical note, in a manner that is almost hypnotic. This is meant to make the reader have the musical feeling, especially when the poem is read aloud. The poet has employed the use of incorrect syntax, where he has the arrangement of words in ways that are out of the usual norms and syntactic conventions. For instance, when he says, “‘doubtless’ said I” (line 62). Another example is where the persona says “this and more, I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining.” The arrangement here is not conventional. It makes the poem entertaining. Some of the words that the poet uses are used to show that the poem was written long ago when we had some different conventions in language. A good example of this is the word “morrow” (line 59). Moreover, in line 69, we also have the word “betook.”
The poem has employed the use of various figures of style, which are aimed at making the work literary. A text is autonomous, which calls for the need that the information regarding it is in the text. That is why such figures elevate the artistry exhibited by Allan Poe. We have the aspect of illusion. This is seen when the poet uses an allusion into the Greek culture, talking of a “Plutonian shore” (line 48). Here, the poet is trying to intensify the feeling in the poem by alluding to a Greek god, Pluto, who is the ruler of the underworld. This gives the poem a dark essence. We also have some instance of personification, which is seen in line 63, where the poet is talking about “unmerciful disaster.” In line 13, personification is seen when the curtains are said to be sad, which is not an inanimate attribute. We have several instances of alliteration, which is seen in line 37 where we have “flirt and flutter.”
Through the poem, there is an address to some thematic concerns. These are important as they define what a poet wants to communicate. There being of themes qualify that any works I poetry are meant to be shared, as a poet cannot exist in a vacuum. We have the theme of love, which is seen to be a trigger for almost every behavior that is seen in the persona. He has lost a woman he loves; Lenore. There is also a theme of madness, where one tends to question the sanity of the persona, who is obsessed with the loss of a woman she loves, that he starts talking about a bird. The theme of supernatural essence is seen where the persona thinks about the different aspects of life after death, as he wonders if he is to meet Lenore in the afterlife.
From the above, it is explicit that Edgar Allan pore has done much in elevation of the work that he did, long time ago. The idea of having poetry in a manner that resembled a narration, in addition to the inclusion of the different aspects of poetry, is a good entailment of a poetic composition. This analysis is important, as it has offered some scope in manner of form, thematic concerns, and the figurative indulgence into the poem
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