The Raven

'The Raven' by Edgar Allan Poe is by far one of my favourite poems. I'm pretty sure I described it as having 'unearthly qualities' in my UCAS personal statement last year and that is definitely true. I've never reviewed a poem on my blog before nor am I sure whether it can be classed as a book, but here's to broadening horizons!

The narrative poem reads almost like a song about a young man who is distressing over the death of his love named Lenore. The narrator's descent into madness is worsened by the raven arriving at his door, repeating the word 'Nevermore' - knowing the present and foreshadowing the future of the man. It represents the man as a human trying to cling on to the memory of lost loved ones, but also trying to move on and forget. The cycle of grief that we are all familiar with, or will be.

I came across The Raven in Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, the two texts compliment each other well; they both question mortality and immortality, inevitable death and the possibility of perpetual life. The book included my favourite quote from The Raven;

'Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.'

I definitely don't wholly understand the poem or what Poe was trying to portray, but either way it's something different to read that still has relevant themes centuries later.

- The Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe here

Title: The Raven
Author: Edgar Allan Poe
Genre: Poetry, Narrative Poem, Short Story, Fiction, Classic, Gothic, Horror, Mystery
Published: 2012, Fall River Classics, first published 1844
Pages: 46

My rating: ★★★★★

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe on Goodreads