Poetry

 &  Blah  Blah  Blah   2013

Teacher  Mauricio  Silveira

The Raven (first published in 1845) Stanzas I, II, and III.

Edgar Allan Poe

01. Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
02. Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
03. While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
04. As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
05. `'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -
06. Only this, and nothing more.'

07. Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,

08. And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
09. Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
10. From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore
11. For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
12. Nameless here for evermore.

13. And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
14. Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
15. So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
16. `'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door -
17. Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; -
18. This it is, and nothing more,'

Edgar Allan Poe (born Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American author, poet,
editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales
of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and
is generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre. He is further credited with
contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. He was the first well-known American writer to try
to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.

Quick Analysis of the poem

"The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. First published in January
1845, the poem is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a
talking raven's mysterious visit to a distraught lover, tracing the man's slow fall into madness. The lover,
often identified as being a student, is lamenting the loss of his love, Lenore.
Sitting on a bust of Pallas, the raven seems to further instigate his distress with its constant
repetition of the word "Nevermore". Poe claimed to have written the poem very logically and methodically,
intending to create a poem that would appeal to both critical and popular tastes, as he explained in his 1846
follow-up essay "The Philosophy of Composition".
The main theme of the poem is one of undying devotion. The narrator experiences a perverse
conflict between desire to forget and desire to remember. He seems to get some pleasure from focusing on
loss. The narrator assumes that the word "Nevermore" is the raven's "only stock and store", and, yet, he
continues to ask it questions, knowing what the answer will be. His questions, then, are purposely self-
deprecating and further incite his feelings of loss. Poe leaves it unclear if the raven actually knows what it is
saying or if it really intends to cause a reaction in the poem's narrator. The narrator begins as "weak and
weary," becomes regretful and grief-stricken, before passing into a frenzy and, finally, madness.