Hodak Daniela

Professor: Aleksandra Izgarjan PhD

American Literature
30 April 2010

Edgar Allan Poe “The Raven“: Symbolism and Unity of Effect

1. Introduction and historical background

Edgar Allan Poe is among the most popular of American authors, considered to have a
very high influence on creative writing by emphasizing that art should appeal equally to
reason and emotion, and is known by opposing the didactic role of a work of art in favor of
creating beauty.
Most critics and writers, think of Poe as having a sort of a dual personality, one
rational and deductive, and another highly emotional and dark, which seems to stem from the
contrast between what he really was and the Ideal in Poe’s life. Baudelaire thought of Poe as a
modern day Byron, a great poet who has gone astray in a bad world. Others, such as Reverend
Rufus Griswold branded Poe in their literary work as a drunkard and a madman. Therefore,
the reception of his works is also divided, from praising him as a genius that had an uncanny
insight and talent for the written word to dismissing his work as a failed attempt of elevated
literature. (Asselinau, 11)
“These divergences are indeed perfectly justified and stem to a large extent from the
constant contrast between the real and the Ideal (the capital was his) in Poe’s own life and
from the consequent duplicity (in the etymological meaning of the word) of his personality.
“(Asselinau, 12)
Poe drew inspiration for most of his work from the hardships in life, such as losing his
birth parents at early age, and poverty caused by never being recognized as a writer by many
of his contemporaries. Many obscure themes seem to stem from his private life, such as the
death of a beautiful woman which we can compare with loss of his wife Virginia, who died on
January 30, 1847, thus leaving Poe broken down by despair. One of his most famous poems,
“The Raven“ first caught attention of the public and was reprinted all over country, as well as
his brilliant essay “The Philosophy of Composition”, where he set the foundations of his work
(Asselinau, 19)
“Virginia eventually died on January 30, 1847, and Poe broke down, though he felt
relieved in a way from „the horrible never-ending oscillation between hope and despair. “(19)
Thus, like the hero of one of his own tales, he was constantly threatened and tortured by the
pendulum of fate swinging between the extremes of the human condition. “(Asselinau 19)
Nowadays, Poe is considered to be the father of modern horror and mystery story, and
a writer whose ideas marked written word of his time. The principles which he presented in
his philosophical work “Philosophy of Composition“are ever-present in almost every written
literary work of art.

2. The Philosophy of Composition and Unity of Effect

In order to show his concept of a literary creation, Poe wrote several critical essays, of
which the most famous and elaborate one is “The Philosophy of Composition“, where, using
one of his most famous poems “The Raven“, stated all points which a written work of art
must have and treated a poem as a mathematical puzzle which can be solved and decoded.
Due to his analytic nature, he took the poem to pieces to show, step by step, the act of writing
and means of creating, what was by his judgment, a perfect literary work. (Asselinau, 32)
In order for a tale or poem to keep eminent status in literature, it must meet certain
requirements which Poe, similarly to Aristotle in his “Poetics“– defined and formulated.
(Asselinau, 32) Therefore, besides the three original unities rigidly followed by Greeks in
writing their works, Poe created his own called ‘unity or totality of effect’. While writing his
poems, Poe emphasized the importance of effect which it has on the reader, and that the aim
of his poetry is to create a certain state where the world of reality and imagination blend into
one. Once the reader is in this world of dreams, he is able to gain a vision of Ideal Beauty, and
achieves elevated state of soul which transcends earthly matters in favor of heavenly and
divine. (Pacić, 74)
Poe claimed that every plot must be elaborated before being written, as well as the
effect which the writer is trying to produce. Unlike other romantic poets, he disagreed that
poetry is solely a product of inspiration and imagination. He believed that the poet, while
creating, consciously selects material which he wants to convey to the reader as well as
decides on the effect which he is trying to achieve. Only with the desired effect in mind does
one begin with his writings. (Pacić, 74)
“Nothing is more clear than that every plot, worth its name must be elaborated to the
enoument before anything be attempted with the pen. It is only with the denouement
constantly in view that we can give a plot its indispensable air of consequence, or causation,
by making the incidents, and especially the tone at all points, tend to the development of the
intention.“ (Poe, 432)
Keeping this in consideration, Poe’s first task was to define and limit the length and
the extent. He claimed that if a work of art is too long to be read in one sitting it will lose the
density of emotion and important effect derivable from this unity of impression. If more than
one sitting in required while reading, other affairs of world would interfere and the totality or
unity of effect would be lost. Resulting, Poe limited himself to writing short stories and
poems which can easily be read in a short period of time. This way the emotion which he tried
to convey would not become watered down and the effect on the reader would be achieved.
Holding in view this necessity of limited length, Poe concluded that proper length of a poem
should be about one hundred lines. He followed this principle while writing “The
Raven“which has exactly one hundred and eight lines. (Pacić, 75) Easily read in few minutes,
“The Raven” succeeds to convey the atmosphere and sense of despair and horror, which
clearly gives credibility to Poe’s theory.
His next preoccupation was the choice of impression or effect which was to be
conveyed. Poe claimed that the Beauty is the only legitimate province of the poem; therefore,
it should be its only focus. The most intense and elevating pleasure which we get while
reading a poem is found only in contemplation of the beautiful. In one of his critical essays
“The Poetic Principle”, Poe does not refer to beauty as something earthly, but as “something
in the distance which he has been unable to attain” (Poe, 442). The poet’s idea of the beautiful
is not something physical or material, but something that exists in the world beyond, much
like the female characters in his stories who always seem unreal and somewhere beyond
reach.(Pacić, 75) Poe’s rich vocabulary also adds to this impression of beautiful, which such
lines as ‘silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain’(Poe, line 13) where each word is
carefully chosen to contribute to the totality of effect, and produce elevated sentiments in the
reader.
“When, indeed, men speak of Beauty, they mean, precisely, not a quality, as it
supposed, but an effect – they refer, in short, just to that intense and pure elevation of soul,

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not of intellect, nor of heart, upon which I have commented, and which is expedited in
consequence of contemplating the „beautiful“ (Poe, 434)
Now clearly determining Beauty as the sole province of his poem, Poe set out to find
the perfect tone as its highest manifestation. He settled for the tone of sadness, because
according to him, beauty inevitably excites every sensitive soul to tears. Sense of melancholy
and sorrow pervades every line of „The Raven“, never loosing its consistency on which Poe
so determinately insisted on. He achieved this effect of melancholy using various methods,
such as creating the atmosphere in which the narrator resides. The world outside the chamber
is shown as covered in a tempest which can be contrasted with the peaceful interior, thus
creating an enchanted atmosphere and a sense of stopped time which prevents the lover from
forgetting his loss. We can see that from first lines of the poem which the narrator uses to
describe himself as “weak and weary” (377) and in constant search for a cure that would
soothe his sorrow. (Poe, 434)
Deciding on the effect he wanted to produce, length and tone, and keeping the sight on
the object of his task which is to achieve perfection at all points, Poe decided on what he
considered to be the most melancholic and elevated topic according to the universal
understanding of mankind – Death. Combining this theme and the idea of Beauty as the
supreme province of the poem and death as the most poetical topic, Poe decided on the most
obvious theme – Death of a beautiful woman, seen from the perspective of her bereaved and
sorrowful lover. “When it most closely allies itself to Beauty: the death than of a beautiful
woman is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world, and equally is it beyond doubt
that the lips best suited for such topic are those of a bereaved lover.“ (Poe, 434)
After establishing the tone and desired effect, Poe set out to find some artistic
piquancy which would serve as a key-note throughout his poem. He searched for some
specific word or refrain which would emphasize the melodic and melancholic effect which he
wanted to achieve and around which the entire structure of poem might revolve. After
carefully studying and dismissing all sorts of artistic effects he finally agreed on the refrain,
thus finishing every stanza in poem with the word ’Nevermore’. Choosing this single word as
the key-point, he was determined to produce a continuous effect, a sort of a linking between
different variations of the application of the refrain, while the refrain itself remained unvaried
and unmonotonous. In the first few stanzas the word ‘nevermore’ is replaced with words and
phrases which have similar sonority, such as ‘evermore’ and ‘nothing more’. This allowed
Poe to keep the similar sound of the refrain and yet fit it perfectly with the context of the first
part of the poem. Poe chose the word ’nevermore’ because of its’ sonorous emphasis of the
vowel ’o’ and the consonant ’r’, which contributed to the whole musicality of the poem.
(Pacić, 75)
“But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered, not a feather then he fluttered,
Till I scarcely more then muttered, - “Other friends have flown before;
On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before“
Then the bird said- “Nevermore. “ (Poe, lines 55-60)
Furthermore, we can see a similar pattern in other verses as well. The use of internal
rhyme and alliteration adds to the musicality of the poem. In such verses as “And the silken
sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain” (Poe, line 13) the alliteration of the sound ’s’ is
obvious as well as the rhyme which adds to melodious effect. Besides alliteration we can
denote a precise pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables with total of sixteen to eighteen
syllables in each line. Apart from this, Poe wrote his poetry in such a way which would
appeal to the senses, so that while reading a poem, the rhymes and rhythm would lull the
reader to sleep. The melancholy tone of "The Raven" relies as much on its musical sound and

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rhythmic pattern as on the meaning of the words. His rhythms have a strong and monotonous
beat and are filled with alliteration and repetition, thus shifting “the reader’s attention from
meaning to sound, from sense to effect.” (Pacić, 74)
The actual application of the word ‘Nevermore’ as a closing line of each stanza
presented a new problem. Poe had difficulty to find a pretext in which something like this
could be done, without losing the credibility or the effect of the poem. His solution was to
introduce an animal, at first instance a parrot, but was later replaced by a raven, due to the
symbolic role of the bird as a messenger or an ill omen, in order to fit with the tone and gloom
of the rest of the poem. (Poe, 436)
The only method with which the repetition of the word ’Nevermore’ and the laments
of a lover over his deceased mistress could be achieved, was to create a form of question and
answer, with the raven using a single word to answer the queries of the lover. This also
allowed Poe to, what his prime intention was in using this refrain, vary the effect and
application of the refrain and gradate both horror and the sense of despair in each stanza.
From first few stanzas where the lover uses the word ’nevermore’, Poe builds up suspense
ending the last stanza with the utmost conceivable and highest amount of sorrow in the poem.
„And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor:
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted- nevermore! “ (Poe, lines 106-108)
What is peculiar about Raven and the rest of Poe’s poems are that they were written
backwards, meaning, the effect and plot was set, and then the whole web of events evolves
backwards from that single effect which he wanted to achieve. (poedecoder.com) Similarly
to his detective stories, Poe wrote the climax of the poem first, and from there decided on the
events which would eventually lead to it. All the other stanzas served as means of building up
suspense and developing the plot, keeping in mind that none of the previous stanzas would
surpass the climax in the effect which it was meant to convey. This allowed Poe to keep the
steady rhythm and at the same time gradually build up the horror in the narrator and the
mystery of the raven.

3. Symbolism in “The Raven“

In the composition of „The Raven“ we can interpret various motifs in different ways
and observe their symbolic meaning, which the writer uses to toy with the emotions of his
readers. From the most obvious ones, like the raven itself, to some that require close reading,
Poe succeeds in carefully blending the themes of death and beauty and symbolic
reinterpretation of almost everything that surrounds the narrator, thus creating a dark and
mysterious atmosphere.
Raven, as the main symbol of the poem, has the most elusive and changing meaning
and is in close connection with other symbols of the poem like the Bust of Pallace. Because
the raven is a carrion bird, which can be scavenging the battlefields and feasting on the dead,
in many cultures it was a considered an ill omen and it was always connected with death.
Here, the raven can be seen as a symbol of fate and which is used to intensify the narrator’s
despair by reflecting his fears. (Pacić, 76) The student is in a state of unrest, wondering about
the fate of his lost lover, Lenore, and the raven’s illusive reply to his queries suggests that the
narrator already knows the answers to his own questions.
The raven can also symbolize wisdom and a messenger sent by an unseen force to
torment the narrator. This meaning is closely connected with the Bust of Pallace which the
raven sits on after flying into the room. Pallace was Greek goddess of wisdom, hence
symbolizing and immediately implying that the raven is far more then just a common bird.

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The scholar (as narrator is defined) immediately concludes that the raven knows something
about his lost lover and that by questioning it, he may get a response about Lenore’s fate. The
narrator constantly seeks a way to relive his pain and hopes that the raven might soothe his
sorrow by telling him that he will again be reunited with Lenore. Therefore, the raven’s
croaking, which sounds like ’nevermore’, is automatically assigned a meaning instead of
being dismissed. But instead of giving the narrator consolation, the knowledge which he
receives in the end just causes him to sink into despair, because instead of relieving his pain
the raven reassures him that he will never see Lenore again. Poe, being very familiar with
mythology and religion, often uses various gods and mythological creatures in his poems,
such as Pluto, the god of the underworld, or seraphim- one of the angels closest to god,
creating an interesting contrast between the two, and showing the flux in the narrator, between
treating the bird as a messenger from god or the devil.

In the last few stanzas, where the lover becomes desperate in his queries about Lenore,
he treats Raven as a bird sent by the Gods or the angels. The symbolism and the connection
between raven and heaven is obvious, since the narrator believed Lenore to be a“ sainted
maiden“ (Poe, line 95) and therefore she was in heaven after her death.
Night’s Plutonian shore refers to the raven being a messenger from the underworld.
(wikipedia.com) This phrase can be seen as a combination of two images, night which makes
us see the raven as something dark and mysterious, and Pluto the roman god of the
underworld which indicates that the raven is connected with death.
’Nevermore’ as a refrain also holds a symbolic meaning, at least in the analysis of the
narrator. Dismissing for a moment that it was Poe’s intentional idea to use that word as a
refrain to achieve a melodious effect, and observing it from the standpoint of the narrator,
who by the last few stanzas would conclude that ’nevermore’ is the only word spoken by the
raven, we can clearly see his self-torture in constantly asking questions to which he knows the
answer to. The apparently meaningless word which the raven utters begins to “echo the
student’s deepest and most concealed fears and doubts.” (77) Consequently, the outer
dialogue between the student and the raven shifts to the internal world of the narrator, where
he asks questions in such a manner to which the response ‘nevermore’ suits perfectly. (Pacić.
77)
In the lines “Is there- is there balm in Gilead-, tell me tell-, me I implore!“ (Poe, line
89) we can also the need of the narrator for something to soothe his sorrow. Balm of Gilead
has a biblical reference as a magical potion that would cure all sadness. We find it mentioned
in Genesis chapter 37, as a balsam which was carried from Gilead by the merchants to whom
Joseph was sold. Another similar symbol is ‘nepenthe’, a drink that banishes sorrow often
alluded to in classical myth. (wikipedia.com)
In the first part of the poem, the student hears a tapping on the door and hopes that his
lover had returned. After opening the door he is faced with complete darkness which can
symbolically be connected with death. Instead of finding anything, he sees a vacant and dark
hallway where he can only hear the echo of his own voice. Here we can see that death here
represents the end of existence, without the possibility of afterlife, and that “Lenore is lost for
ever and that they will not, even in death, be reunited.” (Pacić, 77)
The raven’s shadow which he casts can represent the darkness in the narrator and
destruction of his soul. He is now faced and fully aware of the reality, embodied in the raven,
and “experiences a spiritual death and becomes conscious of the fact that not only Lenore is
irrevocable lost, but that his life has become death-in-life.” (Pacić. 77)
Using a rather limited number of poems, since Poe is most known as a writer of short
stories, he managed to create his own world and system of symbols which can be

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reinterpreted in various manners, and thus influenced some of the French symbolists like
Baudelaire and Mallarme. (Pacić, 61)

4. Conclusion
Poe, as one of the greatest American story tellers and writers, defined the principles
which should be followed in composing a literary work. His main idea was that the effect
which a story or a poem has on the reader is the main preoccupation of the writer. The sole
emotion that the writer wants to convey, whether or horror, sorrow or joy, must be total and
unchanging. Poe, due to many hardships and losses in his life, was familiar with dark nature
of human soul and succeeded in transmitting his fears and inner struggle to his own works,
which we can clearly see in his most famous poem- “The Raven“.
“Poe had found a way into the dark recesses of the human soul and he had created a
form in which its torments could find direct symbolic expression. His poetry is insight
revealed in music and picture, in rhythm and image. “ (Spiller, 75)
Poe used powerful imagery combined with carefully composed rhymes to create a sort
of musicality which would appear to the readers’ senses. Though his work did not bring
much fame to Poe during his lifetime, nowadays he is read and interpreted one of the greatest
writers of all times who helped shape the literary world as we know today.

References:

 Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Raven" Concise Anthology of American literature,

Second Edition Ed. George McMichael, New York, 1974.Print

 Poe, Edgar Allan. " The Philosophy of Composition" Concise Anthology of

American literature, Second Edition Ed. George McMichael, New York, 1974. Print

 Pacić, Brankica. The Big Ten Major Nineteenth century American writers. Niš:
Izdavačka Jedinica Univerziteta u Nišu, 1991. Print

 Spiller, Robert E. The Cycle of American Literature. New York: The MacMillan
Company, NY, 1991. Print

 Asselinau, Roger, et al. Seven American Literary Stylists from Poe to Mailer: An
introduction. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 1973. Print

 www.wikipedia.com

 Hallquist, Christopher, www.poedecoder.com/essays/raven Poe Decoder