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At the beginning of the poem, the narrator is rational enough to understand that Lenore is dead and he will not see her again. When the raven first begins repeating "nevermore," he realizes that the answer is the bird's "only stock and store," and he won't get another response no matter what he asks. He seems to even find the bird vaguely amusing.
- Expert's Guide to The AP Literature Exam
These questions ask you to infer something—a character or...
- Expert's Guide to The AP Literature Exam
The first question the narrator asks the raven, in the eighth stanza, is "tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!", or, to be paraphrased, "what is your name?". What is the raven's only answer to the narrator's questions? The only answer that the raven will give the narrator is "nevermore".
Mar 11, 2024 · The narrator accepts the Raven’s answer and declares that it’s time for the bird to leave. 97: The narrator orders the Raven to leave and never come back. 98: The narrator tells the Raven to leave no trace of its visit. 99: The narrator emphasizes his desire to be alone by telling the Raven to leave and not disrupt his loneliness. 100
- Summary
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- Similar Poetry
‘The Raven‘ by Edgar Allan Poe(Bio | Poems) is a dark and mysterious poem in which the speakerconverses with a raven. Throughout the poem, the poet uses repetitionto emphasize the mysterious knocking in the speaker’s home in the middle of a cold December evening. The speaker tries to ignore it and convince himself that there’s no one there. But, ev...
In ‘The Raven,’ Poe engages themes that include death and the afterlife. These two are the most common themes used throughout Poe’s oeuvre. These themes are accompanied by memory, loss, and the supernatural. Throughout the piece, the reader feels that something terrible is about to happen or has just happened to the speaker and those around him. Th...
‘The Raven’ by Edgar Allan Poe(Bio | Poems) is a ballad of eighteen six-line stanzas. Throughout, the poet uses trochaic octameter, a very distinctive metrical form. He uses the first-person point of view and a consistent rhyme scheme of ABCBBB. There are a large number of words that use the same ending, for example, the “ore” in “Lenore” and “Neve...
Poe makes use of several literary devices in ‘The Raven.’ These include but are not limited to repetition, alliteration, and caesura. The latter is a formaldevice that occurs when the poet inserts a pause, whether through meter or punctuation, into the middle of a line. For example, line three of the first stanza. It reads: “While I nodded, nearly ...
First Stanza
The opening line of this poem proves to be quite theatrical, initiating with the classic “once upon a -” and introducing a typical melodramatic, “weak and weary” character who is lost in thought during a particularly boring night. He claims to be thinking and “pondering” over volumes of old knowledge traditions. He is interrupted by a tapping sound as he nods off to sleep while reading. It sounds like someone is “gently” knocking on his “chamber door.” He mutters that it must be a visitor sin...
Second Stanza
We are quickly jolted from the scene of the stranger knocking at the door into the speaker’s thoughts. Here, he pauses to educate the reader that this sight was taking place during the “bleak” December when “dying” embers from a fire were casting “ghosts” like shadows on the floor. He wished for the night to pass faster, desperately trying to escape the sadness of losing Lenore by busying himself with his books. It becomes very obvious that Lenore was someone important to him, as he describes...
Third Stanza
The movement of the curtains even seems “sad” and “uncertain” to him. Watching these curtains rustle and listening to the knocking was turning his miserable and quiet mood into one of anxiety and fear. To calm himself and his quickening heartbeat, he repeatedthat it was just some visitor who had come to see him in these late hours and “nothing more.” Poe provides details of the room and its belongings throughout the poem that observably symbolizethe character’s feelings. This stanza focuses o...
Readers who enjoyed ‘The Raven’ should also consider reading some of Poe’s other best-known poems. For example: 1. ‘A Dream within a Dream,‘– published in 1849, this poem examines time and our perceptions of it. 2. ‘Alone’– is a haunting poem that touches on many of Poe’s favorite themes. It was inspired by the death of Poe’s foster mother. 3. ‘Ana...
Basically he is asking the raven if his heart and soul will ever be healed. The raven answers, "Nevermore." The he asks another question. "Tell this soul will sorrow laden if, within the distant ...
The narrator experiences a perverse conflict between desire to forget and desire to remember. He seems to get some pleasure from focusing on loss. [10] The narrator assumes that the word "Nevermore" is the raven's "only stock and store", and, yet, he continues to ask it questions, knowing what the answer will be.
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The unnamed narrator (we can call him a narrator as ‘The Raven’ just about qualifies as a narrative poem) sits up late one December night, mourning the loss of his beloved, Lenore, when a raven appears at the window and speaks the repeated single word, ‘Nevermore’. The narrator starts to view the raven as some sort of prophet.
