Edgar Allan Poe and “The Raven”

“The want of parental affection has been the heaviest of my trials” –Poe

• Every important female in Poe’s life died of tuberculosis, starting with his mother and foster mother.

• Poe’s father deserted the family, leaving Poe’s mother to provide through acting. She was a highly esteemed actress and Poe loved her very much, but she died of tuberculosis before Poe was 3 years old.

• Poe was taken in by the Allan’s, John and Frances. Frances, whom he became close to, developed tuberculosis and slowly died. John Allan always showed a dislike and disappointment for Poe.

Struggling Writer• After Poe’s 2nd book of poems was published, he moved in with his aunt, Maria

Poe Clemm. • In 1835 he married her thirteen-year-old daughter, Virginia. Despite the difference

in their ages, they were deeply in love and Poe adored her.• Before Virginia was 20, she contracted tuberculosis and began the slow death. Poe

was by her side.• Poe wrote “The Raven” when Virginia was particularly ill. It is believed that

“Lenore” is really Virginia, and the narrator’s questions about life after death are really Poe’s on questions as to whether or not he will see Virginia again after she dies.

• Another poem, “Annabelle Lee” is believed to be about Virginia, as well.

“The Raven”

“I asked myself, ‘Of all melancholy topics, what, according to the universal understanding of mankind, is the most melancholy?’ Death—was the obvious reply. ‘And when,’ I said, ‘is this most melancholy of topics most poetical?’…the answer, here also, is obvious—’When it most closely allies itself to Beauty: The death then, of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world.”

• “The Raven” was wildly popular when published in a New York newspaper in 1845. People would perform it at parties; children would beg Poe to scare them with a “nevermore” while walking through the streets…

• However, Poe hardly made any money off of “The Raven”—only $10 total.

• During this time, he tried to sustain his household by picking up editing jobs.

“The Raven”—one of the most famous poems ever written—is a narrative poem with a story line that leads the reader from curiosity to horror…the

dark side of human nature that delights in self-torture.

• The speaker/narrator is a weary student, studying at midnight and mourning his dead love, Lenore.

• He hears a faint knock, and opening the shutter, he finds a mysterious raven.• The talking bird amuses the speaker at first, but its refrain of “Nevermore,” in

answer to the speaker’s pleading questions about meeting Lenore after death, drives him to despair and madness.

• As the poem closes, the bird settles in to stay, a brooding symbol and symptom of the speaker’s desperate state of mind.

Sources

• Holt Elements of Literature, 5th Course, Essentials of American Literature.