The Raven
The Raven is the name of a long narrative poem by the writer Edgar Allan Poe.
The Raven was published for the first time on January 29, 1845 in New York Evening Mirror.
Its use of language, particularly alliteration enhances the gothic tenor of the piece and is best remembered for its repeated key line, Quoth the Raven: "Nevermore". It has a metrical construction that is mesmeric in quality, as shown in its famous opening lines:
- Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
- Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
- While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
- As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
- "'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door -
- Only this, and nothing more."
The poem has been frequently parodied, a noteworthy example being the reworking of the poem in a Halloween edition of The Simpsons.
Interpretation
On its face, the poem appears to describe the feverish maunderings of a brilliant alcoholic who has lost his sweetheart and all his friends through his drunken anti-social irresponsibility. Indeed, Poe died an early and tragic death due to his own alcoholism.
See also:
- The Raven has been the subject of constrained writing.