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Ironic Tone In The Raven By Edgar Allan Poe

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Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” is a poem known for its supernatural mood and musically rhythmic tone. First published during the year of 1845, “The Raven,” in a way, reflected a time of hardships and loss for American citizens. After the publication of Poe’s poem, his popularity grew, but his wealth did not. Poorness lead to a life of madness for Poe, but his lifestyle greatly improved his writing. Most of his work deals with loss and insanity resulting from the loss of a loved one or loneliness. “The Raven” is based around the loss of a woman named Lenore and a black-feathered beast to bring bad omen. Edgar Allan Poe’s use of detailed imagery, syntax and tone, symbolism, unusual structure, and unnamed narrator all feed into his usual overall …show more content…

Most people will ask the question, “Why the raven?” with no intention of researching Poe, his life, or his state of mind. Little do these people know, Poe had a fascination with Charles Dickens’ pet raven, Grip. Originally, Poe had considered centering his poem around a parrot instead of a raven. However, Poe knew he wanted to choose a flying creature as the deliverer of bad omen; the raven was just a better choice. On one hand, parrots could repeat words and phrases more easily than a raven, but a raven could be taught to repeat things eventually. Additionally, parrots are quite colorful creatures, so the use of a parrot in “The Raven” would not be practical; it would completely ruin the dark and dreary theme. By choosing the raven, Poe knew that the beast could effortlessly symbolize a dark entity; only living to bring bad omen upon the unfortunate victims of time. Some people even think that Poe chose the raven to symbolize a darker piece of himself, perhaps the worst memories of his …show more content…

The dramatic effect of the “The Raven” is caused by the meter, which is mostly trochaic octameter, with eight-stressed-unstressed two-syllable feet per line (Wang). When combined with the ABCBBB end rhyme scheme and the frequent use of internal rhyme, the trochaic octameter and the repetition of "nothing more" and "nevermore" give the poem a musical rhythm when read aloud (Wang). In “The Raven” Poe also emphasizes the long “O” in words such as “nevermore,” and “Lenore,” to establish the lonely sound he was trying to

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