The Mood Of The Raven

Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” created with a musical rhythm and aura has been a Halloween classic for decades. The poem was first published in January 1845 making it an overnight success across the UK and America. It describes a devastated lover who mourns for the loss of his dead wife. The lover, a scholar, tries to distract his shattered mind by reading books, but a raven knocking at his “window lattice” rudely yanks him out of his reverie. He opens the window inviting the bird in who perches itself atop a bust of Pallas Athena. The scholar, amused at first, quickly becomes agitated as the bird only speaks one word, “Nevermore.” Coined as one of the greatest poems ever written, “The Raven” is skilfully built up of rich symbolisms, rhythmic

Indicating the scholar’s nerves calming after the initial shock of waking in the night to someone at his chamber door. The rhythm is present within every verse giving the poem a unique sound. The predictable pattern quickens the poem’s reading pace, offering a sense of anticipation. The tension helps push the poem along, as well as enveloping the reader in the theme.
“The Raven” offers a splendid example of how poetry reflects internal emotions and conveys it to any audience, which links, heals and understands them. The poem also expresses Poe’s fear of loneliness which greets him only two years later when his wife tragically died. Despite the topic being one that countless poets have discussed before, this poem has touched thousands of souls. Readers of every walk of life can relate to the morbid fear of loneliness. Poe’s life was filled with many deaths and readers can feel his breaking heart through each genius word.
Arguably the best feature of “The Raven” is the imagery. He expresses each theme eloquently through metaphors, word choices, and mythology. The obvious subject of the poem is madness and disappear. For example, in the first stanza

The griever has the option to move past the pain or let it back in. This is further emphasized when the raven gently knocks at the window instead of bursting in.
Thus, the scholar gave the raven (grief) entrance into his life when he could have resisted. The bird flies into the room and perches itself on Pallas Athena over the chamber door, indicating that it now guards and prevents his escape from the darkness of the mind. It also symbolizes a contrast between the marble goddess and pitch-black bird. Showing light and dark, life and death, and sanity to madness.
The second scheme Poe incorporates in the poem is death and the afterlife.
Throughout literature and mythology, the raven has symbolized the messenger of evil and the supernatural. It also is a physical representation of the scholar’s torturous memories and dreams. The scholar says, “... the Night’s Plutonian shore!” bringing up
Pluto the god of the underworld. This references his belief that the raven is a messenger from the dead. He goes into a rage as the bird refuses to answer any questions and says, “prophet still, if born of devil!” further linking the bird to the underworld. Furthermore, Pallas Athena is the Greek goddess of wisdom and battle