Death of a Heartbreak The poem, “The Raven,” by Edgar Allan Poe is creepy, sorrowful, thrilling, Gothic Literature piece. In this poem, the raven, symbolizes the unanswered questions of life, heartbreak, and the sorrow for his loss. In the beginning of the poem, the narrator is sitting in his chair reading, and just falling asleep when he hears tapping at his door again and again. He eventually gets up to answer the door and there was nothing there. The narrator feels deep depression because he has lost his love, Lenore. He is mournful and heartbroken when a raven flies into his bedroom with a less than hopeful message. The definition of heartbroken is suffering from overwhelming distress; very upset (Google dictionary). The author paints a picture of despair by using symbolism to engage the reader and to help create these feelings of loss and sadness in the reader’s mind. The author could have used a parrot, since it is widely known that parrots can speak, but he chose a raven to symbolize darkness and sadness. Ravens are black and ugly, just as sorrow and heartbreak can sometimes feel. The Raven in the poem symbolizes unanswered questions of life, sorrow, and grief.
The narrator of, “The Raven,” hears tapping at his door as he was falling
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And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, “Lenore?”
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, “Lenore!” Merely this and nothing more.
Back then into the chamber turning, all my soul within me
Burning, (lines 29-31).
He explains in these lines that he is nervous and anxious about the Raven being Lenore’s spirit. The narrator walks back to his chair with his soul burning because he all he heard back was his echo. Lenore was not there.
In the poem, the narrator becomes tremendously curious to why the raven came to his house. He is also curious because he thinks and hopes the raven knows something about his