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Edgar Allan Poe makes use of many poetic devices in "The Raven" to create a memorable and moving piece of writing. Below we discuss seven of the most important of these devices and how they contribute to the poem. If he felt the hostility aimed at him, it did not shake the easy grin from his face. Indeed, he seemed to feed off the crowd’s energy. As the man continues to converse with the bird, he slowly loses his grip on reality. He moves his chair directly in front of the raven and asks it despairing questions, including whether he and Lenore will be reunited in heaven. Now, instead of being merely amused by the bird, he takes the raven's repeated "nevermore" response as a sign that all his dark thoughts are true. He eventually grows angry and shrieks at the raven, calling it a devil and a thing of evil. As it draws to a pulsating climax, Camilla reveals a shattering truth to Mungo, but it doesn’t deter him, only serves to feed the fire of revenge burning inside him. This book review is meant to encourage you to read the book… Conclusion of the Book Review
Not at all. My father has vowed that when he dies, he will free all his slaves. The will is already written. I will have to find some other way of making my fortune.’ Mungo clapped Fairchild on the shoulder. ‘So you see, I will never make a penny out of that institution you revile so much. Whereas you’ – he grinned – ‘will depend entirely on the slave trade to make your living.’ In "The Raven," Poe wanted to show the fine line between rational thought and madness and how strong emotions, such as grief, can push a person into irrationality, even during mundane interactions like the one the narrator had with the raven.
It was Chapman, the college porter. If he was surprised to see Mungo with a poker raised like a weapon, Fairchild wrestling him for it and Manners kneeling helpless at his feet, he made no comment. Chapman had known Mungo since he arrived three years ago, and nothing the undergraduate did could surprise him. At this point in the story, the character is being consumed by his own emotions and the mental game that he’s playing. He screams and cries for his loneliness to stay unbroken because he realizes that he is no longer alone; these emotions and feelings he has unearthed will continue to haunt him and live with him forever. He yells at these feelings to get away from his wisdom and rational thinking. He pleads for this feeling of intense grief and loss to take the sharp pain away that he is feeling, and, of course, as the reader knows for certain by now, the answer is “Nevermore.” As Mungo battles his own fate and misfortune, he must question what it takes for a man to regain his power in the world when he has nothing, and what he is willing to do to exact revenge . . . Alliteration is one kind of repetition that’s used in ‘The Raven.’It occurs when the poet repeats the same consonant sound at the beginning of multiple words. For example, “weak and weary” in the first line of the poem and “soul” and “stronger” in the first line of the fourth stanza.
The man is amused by how serious the raven looks, and he begins talking to the raven; however, the bird can only reply by croaking "nevermore." Alliteration is the repetition of a sound or letter at the beginning of multiple words in a work, and it's perhaps the most obvious poetic device in "The Raven." The poem is full of alliteration, such as the phrases "weak and weary," "nearly napping," and "followed fast and followed faster." This poetic device helps give the poem its famous musicality and is one of the reasons people love to recite it.
Things get more serious in this stanza as the character loses his cool and starts to scream at his emotions. He calls them a prophet because they are basically prophesizing his unhappy life and a thing of evil because of the pain they are causing him. He doesn’t understand where such permanence has come from in his grief and loss. Shouldn’t they be a feeling of phase and pass after some time? Why is his feeling here to stay forever? He asks in his panic whether there is anything good waiting for him in life. Will the intensity of such feelings pass? It seems his feelings of grief and loss are set in stone because it just replies with a “nevermore”. I know in this House we are used to debating the fine points of law and politics. But this is not academic. The question of slavery speaks to a higher law. To keep innocent men and women in chains, to tear them from their homes and work them to death: this is a crime against God and all the laws of justice.’
If you were a gentleman, I would gladly accept. But as that is clearly not the case, I will bid you goodnight.’ Are you afraid of this Yankee upstart?’ Manners had stood up. He snatched the bottle that his friend carried and broke it on the cobbles so that he was left with a jagged and glittering stump. He advanced again, more cautiously, this time. Two encounters with Mungo had taught him that much, at least. The speaker admits that he cannot help but be fascinated by this raven. He basically sets up his chair so that he is seated right in front of the bird, watching it intently. He starts to focus his thoughts on the raven and what it could possibly mean by repeating the specific word “nevermore.”The scene opens on a “dreary” or boring midnight and a “weak and weary” character. The quiet midnight paints a picture of mystery and suspense for the reader, whilst an already tired out and exhausted character introduces a tired out and emotionally exhausting story – as we later learn that the character has suffered a great deal before this poem even begins. To further highlight the fatigued mood, he is even reading “forgotten lore,” which is basically old myths/ folklore that were studied by scholars (so we assume the character is a scholar/student of sorts). When given the chance to face his loss and grief so directly, it seems amusing to the character. So he speaks to the bird. He asks its (the bird/his grief) name, as it looked so grand and uncowardly even though it came from the world of suffering (the dark night). The raven spoke and said “nevermore”. His feelings of grief and loss (the raven) are reminding him of his greatest pain: nevermore. The raven speaks to him clearly and relays to him that what he had the deepest desire for in this life of his is now strictly nevermore. And what use is freedom, if it is only the freedom to live in a slum until you are worked to death? What use is a wage if it does not buy you enough to eat? The only thing that money buys is ease for the consciences of the mill owners. Whereas at Windemere, every one of our people enjoys three square meals a day, a roof over his head and clean clothes to wear. He never has to worry if he will eat, or who will take care of his family. I promise you, if any English loom worker or coal miner glimpsed life on the plantation, he would swap his life for that in a second.’
An allusion is an indirect reference to something, and Poe makes multiple allusions in "The Raven." Some key ones include: The audience filed through two doors, one for ‘aye’ on the right, and one for ‘no’ on the left. The queue for the ‘ayes’ was noticeably longer, but a surprising number turned the other way. Mungo watched the count from his seat, the grin on his face never wavering. The majority of "The Raven" follows trochaic octameter, which is when there are eight trochaic feet per line, and each foot has one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable.
The Raven Poem: Full Text
The air of suspense continues to build as Poe shifts the narrative from the tapping on the door to the thoughts of the character. This could also portray that the character himself is avoiding answering the door. If we look at the door symbolizing his weaknesses and insecurities, we can easily understand why he would want to avoid opening up to whatever was tapping on it. The diction in this stanza (bleak, separate, dying, ghost, sought, sorrow, and lost) also emphasizes the theme of loss that unfolds in this poem. We can see that Poe is already hinting to the readers about the cause of the characters’ insecurities. As Manners retreated his friends moved in. They circled around Mungo, with the shambling gait of men who have been drinking. Mungo watched them carefully, calculating the effect the alcohol would have. It might make them slower – but also more unpredictable. As he prepares himself to open the door of his insecurities and weaknesses to whatever awaits, he really has to push through his hesitation. He calls out, saying he wasn’t sure whether there was anything there, so he hadn’t bothered to open the door, and when he finally did, he found nothing.
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