Symbols Used by Poe in "The Raven"

By the end of the poem, we will see that Pallas comes to represent something entirely different as a symbol. The raven dispenses no wisdom that soothes the narrator. In contrast, it continually repeats " nevermore" to all of his queries. As such(prenominal), Pallas is viewed ironically here. In the melancholy of love Poe seems to be suggesting that no amount of cerebral thought or "wisdom" acts as balm to such pain.

Another symbol in the poem stems from Poe's use of setting. The bedchamber in which the man has isolated himself represents his isolation and loneliness in the loss of Lenore. The room is richly furnished with "purple curtains" and "velvet cushions", filled with books, and ornately decorated with statues of classic busts (Poe 1-2). The chamber not only demonstrates the narrator's isolation and loneliness. It also serves to him as a constant reminder of happier daytimes spent there with Lenore. Days he is only too painfully aware will never occur again: "On the cushion's velvet violet ocean liner that the lamp-light gloated o'er, / But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er, / She shall press, ah nevermore" (Poe 2). This demonstrates the narrator's hopeless and inconsolable state of mind. Likewise, the room's objects show the narrator to be an intelligent, learned individual but that is not enough to solace him in

At this full point in the poem the narrator has had his fill of the raven. He instructs the red cent he originally wanted to stay that it must go, "'Get thee digest into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!" (Poe 2). The reference to Pluto is other reference to classical mythology, as Pluto was the god of the underworld. In his frustration, the narrator wants to banish the bird and things related to the underworld so he groundwork be excess. Unfortunately, the raven refuses to depart and is silence sitting on Palls deal a "demon" to this day (Poe 3). This equates to the concomitant that the narrator will never be free of the emotions that are hellish and damn him to eternal melancholy.

The most axiomatic and significant symbol in the poem is the raven that perches on Pallas and refuses to respond to any question with a reception other than "nevermore". The raven is known as a bird of ill-omen. A dark bird, the darkness fits in with the fact that it is "midnight", "dreary" and "bleak December" (Poe 1). The raven completes the dark and inexorable atmosphere of the poem. The raven wanders from a "nightly shore", is " sick(p) grim", and "ungainly" (Poe 1). The narrator is at first taken with the bird but thinks he will depart like other acquaintances he has known: "Other friends apply flown forward - / On the morrow will he leave me, as my hopes have flown before" (Poe 2). The raven is another symbol of Lenore, who has left the narrator. However, this flake is one of irony since the raven represents dark and melancholy images and quips he will leave "nevermore".

Poe, E. A. "The farrow." (1845). Viewed on Sep 15, 2004: hypertext transfer protocol://www.heise.de/ix/raven/Literature/Lore/TheRaven.html, 1-3.

One can readily see how Poe employs the use of symbolism and allusion in The Raven to underscore the hellish pain and emotions of lamenting a woolly-headed loved one. The narrator's melancholy is so deep th
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