The Raven

26- How is the beat or the rhythm of the Raven? Is the poem iambic or trochaic?

A/ The poem is trochaic octameter. It has eight trochaic material feet in a line. There is a stressed syllable and
is followed by unstressed such as “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary.”

27- Point out five good instances of alliteration. The poem is full of it

A/ While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—1
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before1
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore—1
On this home by Horror haunted—tell me truly, I implore—

28- The sibilants of lines 5-13 are in alliteration, but they also suggest the noise that the silken curtains make.
What is the name of this device?

A/ Indirect Onomatopoeia: The repetition of the sound “s” at the beginning of the words sad and silken is
alliterative and actually produces the sound of the rustling of the curtain.

29- Why can we say that the words "from out my heart" , in the stanza before the last, are the first
metaphorical expression in the poem?

A/ It will be observed that the words, “from out my heart,” involve the first metaphorical expression in
the poem because the reader begins now to regard the Raven as emblematical. This figurative
expression lets the readers know about how the author was feeling, physically and mentally, using
something that is comparative. With this expression he wants the raven to go away, because its mere
presence reminds him of what he lost, and the pain of remembering his beloved Lenore can only be
compared to the bird physically attacking his heart.

30- Pick out an copy all six of the lover's questions and commands to the raven, and notice the order of
climax.

A/ 1- (...)“Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,” I said, “art sure no craven,Ghastly grim and
ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore—Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s
Plutonian shore!”
Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”1
2- (...) “Other friends have flown before—
On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before.”Then the bird said, “Nevermore.”
3- (...) “Wretch,” I cried, “thy God hath lent thee—by these angels he hath sent thee Respite—respite and
nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore! Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost
Lenore!”Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”
4- (...) Desolate, yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted—On this home by Horror haunted—tell me
truly, I implore—Is there—is there balm in Gilead?—tell me—tell me, I implore!”Quoth the Raven,
“Nevermore.”
5- (...) Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn, it shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the
angels name Lenore—Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore.”Quoth the Raven,
“Nevermore.”
6- (...) “Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I shrieked, upstarting—“Get thee back into the
tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my door!Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy
form from off my door!”Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”2

The intensity of question starts having a stronger meaning and feeling, the next one stronger than the
previous one, so the first question is like a presentation, he only wants to know the name of the bird, but the
second is a confirmation of loneliness, the author wants to know whether the bird is gonna leave him like the
rest or not, then questions start being of deeper meaning till they end with the narrator in a fragile and
desperate state, commanding the bird to leave because he can stand its presence no more, because it
represents the reality of his loss.

31- Point out the internal rhyme - two or more words that rhyme in the same line- in any one of the stanzas
of the Raven.

A/ 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.”

32- What symbols are used by Poe in this poem? Analyse them

A/ The Raven applies symbolism extensively to outline the themes of love, death, and grief.
World wide, darkness and black color representations have negative connotations. The poet integrates
darkness as a symbol in The Raven to represent the depression and hopelessness the narrator was facing
after the death of Lenore. The poem develops in a dark room with only a few embers dying off one after the
other and a surrounding of immense darkness. This may represent the narrator as a person lost in depression
and without hope. The word used to describe December shows a hopeless situation while the darkness
symbolism advances it. The narrator says, “…distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December… each
separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor…” . The term bleak shows hopelessness while dying
embers further portray the narrator as sinking deeper into depression. Moreover, the narrator says, “I
opened wide the door… darkness there and nothing more” showing the hopelessness, sadness, and
depression he experienced because of losing Lenore. The poet also uses darkness as a symbol of death.
Another major symbol used in the poem is the Raven. Poe uses this symbol to express the intense feelings of
love and death experienced after the loss of Lenore. The Raven shows the deep connection of the writer to
Lenore, although it is not implicit, we can say the narrator loved her deeply. The use of this symbol also
represents the fast-approaching death of the narrator. The narrator’s description of the Raven may symbolize
the narrator’s fast-approaching yet yearned for death. The poem states, “And each separate dying ember
wrought its ghost upon the floor. Eagerly I wished the morrow…” as if the Raven’s tapping was a sign of death
that the narrator was eagerly waiting to happen . The integration of this symbol helps build the themes of
love, loss, and death.
Poe uses the Night’s Plutonian shore as symbolism for death. He uses the phrase artistically with a negative
connotation that points to death. Pluto is the god of the underworld in ancient Greek mythology and was
sometime considered the last planet in the solar system. The application of the term in this context shows
the possibility of the last moments or the departure to the underworld. The narrator is probably getting one
of his most desirable wishes after the loss of Lenore, death. The poem states, “’Be that word our sign of
parting, bird or fiend!” I shrieked, upstarting: “Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian
shore!” These lines show are a parting statement for a person headed to the underworld. Therefore, the poet
uses ‘Plutonian’ as symbolism for death. Moreover, the term ‘night’ and ‘black’ as used in the same stanza
(the second last) symbolize death.
33- What preconceived effect is achieved by the poet in the poem?
A/ Only reading the title "The Raven" comes to our mind the idea of death and darkness, because this
bird is commonly used as a physical representation of this abstract concepts. Notwithstanding, only
when we read the poem we can ratify or fully understand the intention of the poet and what the poem
is about. So I believe the title was carefully and well selected in order to foreshadow what comes next. If
readers see the title of the poem as a symbol of death and darkness and what it embodies, they will be
right and the first intention of the author of transmitting thus concepts through the raven as a symbol
will be achieved.