Rhetorical Analysis of The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe

“The Raven”, is a poem written by Edgar Allen Poe that was published on January 29, 1845. With this publication Poe was immensely praised for his work, even though, for many years, he had already been established as a journalist and published author. “The Raven” is one of Edgar’s best poems because of the story it tells. The poem is about a man who is grieving over the loss of his love “Lenore.” In the poem, a raven sat on the, man’s chamber door. Throughout the poem, the man is having a conversation with the raven, but he only gets one response from the bird, “Nevermore.” The Raven can only express one word, “Nevermore” after each question the man asks. Due to this only word, the man becomes frustrated and is constantly reminded of his lost love. Without a doubt “The Raven” is deemed one of the best poems ever written in poetry.

Edgar Allen Poe was born January 19, 1809 and was a writer known for his poetry and short stories. Most of his writings introduces its’ audience to mystery and/or a macabre story. In his time, he was considered the inventor of detective fiction genre. Poe attended the University of Virginia, but soon quit due to money problems and later in 1827 enlisted in the army under a different name. However, his time in the service did not last long either because Poe wanted to be a poet and a writer. Poe worked with journals and periodicals and became known for his own style of writing. Due to the nature of his work Edgar Allen Poe was constantly moving cities. In one of the cities he was stationed in he started working for the New York Evening Mirror. This magazine would come to be the first to publish his poem “The Raven” on January 29, 1845.

“The Raven” is considered one of the best poems to be written and what makes “The Raven” an exquisite poem? The entire poem was considered to be ethos because Edgar was already an established author. However, with time and having a closer look at the writing it can be determined that the written piece is actually pathos. The poem starts and ends with its focus on the loss of a loved one. The whole poem is about a man and the love he lost, but it is not until the bird is introduced in the writing that we are able to see the distress and sorrow the man is going through because of said loss.

Edgar wrote his poem with the intention to appeal to both critical and popular taste. In his poem Poe uses mythological, religious and classical references. The man in his poem is going through so much grief, he starts to believe that the raven is actually the devil being sent to taunt him over the loss of Lenore. In the writing, Lenore becomes the main focus, therefore, it can be assumed that the whole poem is written in pathos technique. Because the man is so lost in despair, the moment he sees the raven, he starts to believe that it is there to only mock and torment him. The torturing the man feels by the bird can give off the idea of the writer using the pathos technique.

To ensure that his piece was viewed in Poe’s way, he uses certain vocabulary to enhance his writing. This way he avoids leaving his writing open to different interpretation. The piece is better understood by focusing on the specific vocabulary used and ensure his audiences feel the depression state the man was in. This way, people are able to really connect with the writing and feel the man’s pain through the story being told and how close he was to the brink of insanity. It allows its’ audience to make a deeper connection with the man’s struggle. Also, because of the rhyming technique used in the poem it is easier to determine that the piece is pathos. The poem allows for a more emotional connection because instead of a reader reading the poem as another article, its rhyming scheme can cause the poem to be sang instead of being read.

The audience for this piece of writing can be wide-ranging. Poe did not intend for the poem to reach such a mass audience and intended it to for a smaller crowd and to do so, he used specific vocabulary. “The Raven: was written for New York Evening Mirror magazine but was not intended to be a huge success. Since Edgar Allen Poe believed his poem was only going to reach a few people he wrote it with content that had horror and a morbid turn to it. In using this technique Poe could narrow his readers even more. Poe using quotes within his writing, allows his audience to view the raven thought the perspective of the man going through his pain.

Poe intended to use his strategies in his own journal The Penn, but before he could achieve this goal Poe died in Baltimore on October 7, 1849. Poe managed to appeal to a much greater audience that he wasn’t counting on. Through his writing Poe was able to make a connection with his audience and his audience was able to make a connection with the man in the poem. With the man’s sorrow over the loss of his beloved Lenore, many were able to relate but also the audience was able to see the absurdities in which the man was going through, pushing him to the brinks of insanity. Another technique that helped make the connection was the rhyming of the poem. The rhyme in the writing is enjoyable almost musical with a consistent flow.

In the poem, the bird, acts as an instigator to the man almost, making fun of his feelings and emotions and is more of an agony to him. Although, Poe was an established author “The Raven” gave him huge success in his career. Unfortunately, he was not able to enjoy much of his success since he died shortly after the “The Raven” was published. His unique techniques used within his writing help many make a deep and emotional connection with “The Raven”. Poe wrote his poem in a “logically and methodically, with the intention to create a poem that would appeal to both critical and popular tastes.” 

Works Cited

• “Edgar Allan Poe.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Feb. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Allan_Poe.
• Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48860/the-raven.
• “The Raven.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Feb. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raven.