Literary Devices In The Raven

“The Raven” Analysis

“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary” (Poe 1). Poe opens one of his most famous poems, “The Raven”, with this line, like a dark fairytale. “The Raven” is considered an elegy describing a man trying to cope with the death of his lover, Lenore. Poe uses many literary devices to portray meaning about his feelings. “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe is a literary portrayal of his pain on the death of his lover, Lenore, using symbolism, repetition, and alliteration. Symbolism holds many ways for a writer to put meaning and feeling into their writing. It can help us cope with secret meanings hidden behind simple words. Poe uses several examples of symbolism in his poem. The first symbol is the raven itself.

“filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before” (Poe 14). He places the alliteration cleverly, to give the poem a little momentum to keep a good flow and rhythm. In an analysis by Jose Ibanez, Translated Poe, he goes back through the history of the poem. “ It plays down the tone of the poem while other nineteenth-century versions of this poem aim to respect the Icelandic metric tradition, which favors alliteration” (Ibanez). He explains where the alliteration comes from and explains how it adds structure to the poem in a subtle way.

Though written over a century ago, The Raven is still a well-studied and common poem today. Due to its powerful literary devices, it still portrays the heartbreak and different depressive moods of Poe. “Shall be lifted—nevermore!” (Poe 108). In the last line of the poem, you can feel his intensity through the last repetition of “nevermore”. This poem is just one of many that use these literary devices to carry his feelings through to the reader with just simple

“The Raven.” Owl Eyes, 2016, www.owleyes.org/text/raven/analysis/literary-devices. Hallqvist, Chirstoffer. “Poe 's Symbol of ‘Mournful and Never-Ending Remembrance," as Treated in the World-Famous Poem, and Poe 's ‘The Philosophy of

Composition."Poe Decoder, www.poedecoder.com/essays/raven/.

Ibanez, Jose R. “Translated Poe.” Libguides, 2016, eds.a.ebscohost.com.libdb.ojc.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=655ffb6a-5d0e-4ab0-b379-6cf92f0fe4d4%40sessionmgr4010&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=120563200&db=a9h. Poe, Edgar Allan. The Philosophy of Composition. G.R. Graham, 1846.

Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 2018,