The Raven A Poem by Edgar Allan Poe The poem features a mysterious bird that speaks only one word…

… a grieving narrator… … and a lost love.

The Basic Plot: A raven visits a distraught student who descends into madness. The student is lamenting the loss of his love, Lenore. The raven, sitting on a bust of Pallas, seems to further instigate the student’s distress by repeating one word, "Nevermore".

THE NARRATOR A student who grieves for his dead love He longs to be reunited with her in Heaven… But obsesses over whether he will see her again Wants to be left alone

THE RAVEN Enters and won’t leave Speaks one word to the narrator: “NEVERMORE” The narrator at first sees him as a wise creature… but then believes that the Raven is evil for telling him that he will “NEVERMORE” be reunited with his lost love.

LENORE Dead before the poem begins The narrator has undying devotion and love for her; he misses her Could she represent Poe’s wife who died 2 years before this was published?

POEM SUMMARY It is midnight on a cold evening in December in the 1840s. In a dark and shadowy bedroom, a man laments the death of Lenore, a woman he deeply loved. To occupy his mind, he reads.

But a tapping noise disturbs him. When he opens the door to the bedroom, he sees nothing– only darkness. When the tapping continues, he opens the shutter of the window and discovers a raven.

The raven flies into the room and lands above the door on a statue of Pallas Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war in Greek mythology.

The Raven says only “Nevermore.” Does the Raven mean the man he will never again ("nevermore") see his beloved, never again hold her– not even in heaven ?

Why won’t he be reunited with Lenore? Is the narrator not bound for heaven? Is he not meant to ever leave the room?

The Raven & the narrator’s placement when the story begins / ends. **The Raven has already landed when the poem begins.**

Symbols Raven: evil, mournful, unending rememberance Bust of Pallas: wisdom Winter / December: things coming to an end

TONE: Mournful / depressed MOOD: Eerie / creepy SUBJECT: Death THEME: If you don’t move on, you’re really stuck. / Love doesn’t die. / What we think is wise might be evil.

Remember… Poe chose to use a raven for a reason… Ravens are scary, dark, they don’t sing, & they haven’t been tamed as pets … not like…

The End.