Analysis of What Makes The Raven a Great Piece of Poetry

Edgar Allen Poe wrote the poem, 'The Raven' in January of 1845 and upon the (book, magazine, etc.) of his piece, he was met with great praise and (very popular with movie and theater critics, etc.), (even though there is the existence of) having been a published author and professional writer for many years. 'The Raven' is thought of/considered as one of Poe's greatest poems for its structure, language, rhyme big plan/layout/dishonest plan, and for the story as a whole. It is a story about a young man who is continuously feeling extreme sadness (over death) over the loss of his love 'Lenore.' A raven enters through the man's window and sits on the statue of Pallas on the man's room's door. Every question the young man asks the raven he only receives one answer: 'Never again.' Because the raven can only speak this single word, each question the man asks only frustrates the man and reminds him of his loss. While this poem is very popular with movie and theater critics, etc. and thought about/believed one of the best poems ever written, the question is raised as to why. Could it be his poetic structure, or maybe a factor never been thought about/believed? Either way, 'The Raven' by Edgar Allen Poe is seen as one of the best pieces of poetry ever written.

In order to understand what makes 'The Raven' a great piece, one must look at the appeals it makes. At first look, it comes across as a being a belief system based writing, because at this point in his career, Poe was already a very (done or used by many people) writer and poet. At a closer look however, it becomes clear that it is actually an emotion based piece. The reason being is that the story is about a man's struggle to deal with the loss of his loved. The piece begins and ends with this young man's focus on the loss of his love, Lenore. It is only when the raven enters the piece that we begin to see this man's worry and depression in his loss.

Because of his sadness, the young man begins to question the thinking of the raven's presence, taking the raven as devil who has come from the banks of Hades to torture him over his loss of Lenore. Since Poe digs deeply into the loss of Lenore, the piece is based off emotion. Because the story as a whole is based off of the young man's loss of Lenore, it can also be assumed that the piece was also supposed to be based off emotion. Lenore is the focus of the young man's sadness, and his sadness in turn is what leads to the story of the raven torturing him. This sadness the man faces and the torturing by the raven all play off the idea of emotion.

Poe's vocabulary is also a very strong contributor to emotion in this piece. The language Poe uses is very energetic/changing and honest, allowing for the piece to be viewed in the way Poe wanted to, instead of leaving his writing up for (understanding/ explanation). The audience gains a better understanding behind the language, and that allows for a much stronger feeling about what the story really means, making for a deeper connection to the young man's lost love. Poetic structure adds/gives to emotion since the story depends on its rhyme big plan/layout/dishonest plan and musicality. Because the words are so closely connected rhyming wise, it give the reader a chance to read the poem as more of a song, instead of a story which allows for a deeper connection to the reader and the audience. It allows for more feeling of love, hate, guilt, etc. to be put into it because it isn't just a story to be read, but a piece to be experienced.

'The Raven', which can be seen by its (state of knowing someone or something well) and fame and respect, has a very broad audience, but was not meant for such a range of readers. Poe original focused for 'The Raven' was a smaller audience because he released the poem in a magazine without the purpose of reaching mass audiences. 'The Raven' was simply a piece Poe created for a magazine that by chance made him an overnight (popular and exciting thing), and because of this it is possible to see the true audience. Since it was written for a small magazine, Poe understood that his poem would not be viewed by a large audience so his intent was not to write it for one. This can be seen in his writing style and content. The writing style of the piece uses a huge vocabulary and complex rhyme big plan/layout/dishonest plan that isn't too often seen in standard poetic writings. The content has horror twist to it, which Poe used to narrow down the audience even more.

Even though there is the existence of using these strategies Poe manages to (attractive quality/request) to a larger audience than he would have expected, mostly due to its very emotionally driven story line. Feeling of love, hate, guilt, etc. creates from the loss of Lenore, but also from the insanities in which this young man goes through because of his loss. It also appeals on a bigger scale because of the poetic structure of the piece, because the piece as a whole rhymes and has a very consistent flow to it. This gives the piece mass appeal for the reason that it can be enjoyed for its poetic structure alone and doesn't need to appeal in the sense of books. The raven appeals emotionally as a (person who started trouble) to the young man's feelings and acts as a torturer of young man. Because of the highly charged emotional content, 'The Raven' can (attractive quality/request) to a greater audience than Poe meant for.

Although Poe tried to appeal to a small group of people/information about people of readers, he ended up appealing to a much larger audience. Poe was able to use every piece of his writing to reach an audience much larger than the one he at first meant. Because he uses each piece individually and with a great amount of depth, he was able to compose a stronger piece and in that way able to (attractive quality/request) to a larger audience. He was able to create one of the best examples of poetry through the depth of his piece, (showing or proving) the overall importance of the 'The Raven' in the history of books.