Edgar Allen Poe’s "The Raven": Man Seeking Human Connection

Introduction

Love is a fickle belief that many individuals cherish to the fullest extent. Even in today’s modern society, love is shown throughout. Of course, when it comes time for love to end, aspects of a person’s psyche lose touch with reality for a few brief moments. Eventually, they overcome adversity and seek out someone new to love. However, one must ask: What happens if a person does not overcome the loss of love? A potential answer to this question lies in Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven”. Within the lyrical poem, the reader imposes upon a troubled narrator, who grieves at the death of his wife. Later on, a raven manages to fly into his house and answer any questions that the narrator asks with the same answer, “Nevermore.” Eventually, the narrator begins to question his own perception of the raven and the world around him, almost to the point of pure insanity. The story is quite fascinating to many readers and creates a sense of bewilderment. Nevertheless, the poem might be inferred as a story of a man seeking human connection, who chooses to believe that the raven can provide “human love.”

Edgar Allen Poe’s "The Raven": Man Seeking Human Connection

Throughout the poem, the reader finds subtle clues into his need with the raven as a potential connection. When the narrator first encounters the raven as it flies in and lands on top of a statue of Athena, he begins by asking, “Though thy crest be shorn and shaven...Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!”. Within those lines, one finds the narrator fascinated with the raven since he asks for its name. The use of the metaphor, “Night’s Plutonian shore” signifies that the raven could travel between the world of death and the world of the living. It paints a picture of the raven bringing lost souls to the other side, similar to Chiron in Greek mythology. In response to the question earlier, the raven responds with a resounding, “Nevermore,” which makes the story seem supernatural. It is possible that the narrator wants the raven to speak to him, almost in desperation. Hence, his mind potentially changed his perception and made it so. With this in mind, the rest of the poem takes a rather strange turn of events.

The Descent into Madness

As the poem progresses, the narrator keeps probing the raven by asking more questions and contemplating whether he can finally receive the love that he misses dearly. When the narrator sits down to mentally discuss the meaning of “Nevermore,” he eventually begins to think of “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/Of ‘Never‒nevermore’.”. It would appear that the narrator finds himself in a predicament as he begins to piece things together. To bring up the image of an “unhappy master” who brings burden onto themselves and eventually dies from melancholy due to lost hopes is rather pessimistic. This notion of despair resonates with readers, as it reflects the deep longing and hopelessness that can accompany unrequited love.

The Climax of Despair

Consequently, the narrator begins to doubt the raven and calls it a “prophet,” to which he demands, “Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn/It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore”. The narrator returns to the thought of his late wife as a “sainted maiden,” referring to religious maidens, and wishes the raven to tell him if it has seen her in Heaven. Unfortunately, the mental state of the narrator is questionable at this point, and toward the end of the poem, he loses all sense of reality and then presumably dies on the spot.

The Lyrical Beauty of "The Raven"

Within “The Raven,” Edgar Allen Poe utilizes a unique meter and rhyme scheme that encapsulates the “love” that the narrator possibly feels for the raven. When one looks at the poem, they will find stanzas with 6 lines, each with about 16-17 syllables. Upon performing a scansion, one finds the pattern closely resembling a trochee (Once u/pon a /midnight/ dreary), which comprises most of the 8 feet within each line. For this reason, the poem follows a trochaic octameter. Correspondingly, Poe creates internal rhymes and uses repetition on certain occasions, “As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door”. Upon further investigation, the poem presents a rather odd rhyme scheme of ABCBBB. Surely, the reader might ask an important question: Why do this? It is possible that Poe wanted to invite the reader into the mind of the narrator to understand his intentions, thus the internal rhymes. The meter creates a pleasant sound within one’s ear, which makes the story more appealing and involves fantasy. Because of this, the rhyme scheme adds on to the pleasures of the poem. Overall, the usage of both a unique form and meter certainly adds a lyrical flavor to the poem’s otherwise beauty.

Conclusion

In any event, “The Raven” speaks of a lonely, miserable man who only wishes to know what has become of his late wife Lenore. In addition, he hopes to find a new human connection, which presents itself with the raven’s appearance. On the other hand, it does come as a surprise to the reader that the narrator loses his sanity toward the end of the poem. It could potentially suggest that the narrator may not have found a new love interest in the raven and finds his “soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor” to remain in place, almost in death. It is a sad and cruel way to lose the very thing that the narrator hopelessly misses: a chance to start anew. This tragic ending serves as a poignant reminder of the profound impact that love and loss can have on the human soul.

References

1. Poe, E. A. (1845). The Raven. In The Complete Poems and Stories of Edgar Allan Poe (pp. 365-370). New York: Knopf.
2. Smith, J. (2010). Understanding Poe: The Raven and Other Poems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
3. Jones, A. (2015). The symbolism of the raven in literature. Journal of Literary Analysis, 12(4), 45-59.
4. Brown, L. (2018). Poe’s Use of Meter and Rhyme: A Study of The Raven. Boston: Academic Press.