In his poem The Raven, Edgar Allan Poe expresses his grief over the unavoidable death of his wife using many kinds of literary devices through a man who mourns the loss of someone he loved. The speaker in the poem wants to forget about his sorrow and move on. A raven arrives through the speaker’s window and keeps repeating “nevermore” when asked questions. The poem relates to Poe’s own distress due to his wife who was dying at the time, which helps the reader understand how Poe is feeling. In stanza twelve of The Raven, there are many examples of symbolism used. The stanza begins with the speaker smiling due to the raven’s appearance above his door. His smile covers up his sadness over the loss of his love, Lenore. Instead of dealing with …show more content…
These words used actually describe his dying wife at the time. Her imminent death represented the use of the alliteration. The second, fourth, and fifth lines use rhyme which makes the stanza read and flow easier and adds to the somber mood of the poem. Twice Poe calls the raven an “ominous bird of yore” which shows that the presence of the raven gives the impression that something bad is about to happen. This is Poe expressing that he knows the death of his wife is inevitable. He realizes he can’t do anything to stop it. The third line has internal rhyme to increase the effect of what the speaker is doing, and this was the most important part of the stanza.
The speaker in the poem welcomed the bird due to his loneliness and desire for companionship. He wanted to know what the raven means by the saying “Nevermore”. Ravens are typically associated with death and the fact that the raven could speak made him think that maybe it had something to do with the death of his love Lenore. Poe uses a personification on the first line by calling the Raven beguiling which gives the impression that the bird might be intelligent. If the speaker could sit and listen he find his answers. Poe desires to know why people in his life whom he loves keep