Edgar Allan Poe Reflection

"The Raven" is one of Edgar Allan Poe's most famous poems and is a perfect example of the Dark Romanticism style of writing during the Romanticism period. "The Raven" shows many characteristic of the Dark Romanticism period including the element of the evil, which it one of the big parts of Dark Romanticism. The Dark Romanticism was a branch off of the Romanticism with means that it needs to be descriptive and have elements of nature but with the dark side they added mystery and tragedy to the story (Whiteman). The way Poe describes the raven as the bird of ill omen brings in a dark and mystical element to the raven. The ill omen of a raven comes with tragedy which is believed by many that the raven and the crow symbolize death and tragedy. "Poe's bird is at once a literal and a symbolic presence, a visitor from the dark external world and an emblem of the darkness of grief within the speaker's soul." (Bloom) In the final stanza the reader see that this connection by the mention of the speaker in these lines, " And the lamp light o'ver 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 71). He sees himself as the raven and that dark creature on the inside that is dark and tragic. Poe reflects a lot on the inner conflict and psychological state of his main character and what they feel inside and how that pain, usually affects them (Whiteman). The detailed descriptions used by Edgar Allan Poe is a common theme throughout all of the Romanticism writing and Poe using a darker description than most Romanticism writers would have which is another way to distinguish between the two Romantic styles of writing. " Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,/ Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore" ( Poe 68). In this example of the dark description it is a dreary midnight and if this was a more traditional Romanticism poem it would have more likely taken place in the day and on a sunny day. The darkness of the unknown with this opening statement draws in the readers attention and people are very curious about the unknown because of the that reason they do not know. The speaker lost his love Lenore which is a very common occurrence in Dark Romanticism writing and just like all the others he has lost his love and the raven being a sort of symbol for the devil and what is to come in the afterlife (Poe). The raven replies to him every time the answer nevermore. The man has gotten so scared that he makes a deal with the raven to leave but at the cost of the man's life. "Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!" (Poe 71). This is the climactic end to the man life and we will never know what he is found for did he truly meet the devil in the form of a raven or did he simply scary himself to death in his dark and lonely room on that dreary midnight while he sat pondering.

Poe, Edgar A. The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. New York, NY: Barnes & Noble, 2006. Print.

Bloom, Harold, ed. "'The Raven'." Edgar Allan Poe, Bloom's Major Poets. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 1999. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= BMPEAP19&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 17, 2012).

Whiteman, Terra. "Dark Romanticism in Literary Fiction: A Historical Look on the Concept of the Infamous ‘Love Curse’." 6 Nov. 2011. Web.