summary of the raven by edgar allen poe
The Raven
Poe capitalized on the success of `` The Raven '' by following it up with his essay `` The Philosophy of Composition '' ( 1846 ) , in which he detailed the poem 's creation . His description of its writing is probably exaggerated , though the essay serves as an important overview of Poe 's literary theory . He explains that every component of the poem is based on logic : the raven enters the chamber to avoid a storm ( the `` midnight dreary '' in the `` bleak December '' ) , and its perch on a pallid white bust was to create visual contrast against the dark black bird . No aspect of the poem was an accident , he claims , but is based on total control by the author . Even the term `` Nevermore '' , he says , is used because of the effect created by the long vowel sounds ( though Poe may have been inspired to use the word by the works of Lord Byron or Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ) . Poe had experimented with the long o sound throughout many other poems : `` no more '' in `` Silence '' , `` evermore '' in `` The Conqueror Worm '' . The topic itself , Poe says , was chosen because `` the death ... of a beautiful woman is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world . '' Told from `` the lips ... of a bereaved lover '' is best suited to achieve the desired effect . Beyond the poetics of it , the lost Lenore may have been inspired by events in Poe 's own life as well , either to the early loss of his mother , Eliza Poe , or the long illness endured by his wife , Virginia . Ultimately , Poe considered `` The Raven '' an experiment to `` suit at once the popular and critical taste '' , accessible to both the mainstream and high literary worlds . It is unknown how long Poe worked on `` The Raven '' ; speculation ranges from a single day to ten years . Poe recited a poem believed to be an early version with an alternate ending of `` The Raven '' in 1843 in Saratoga , New York . An early draft may have featured an owl .
Poe capitalized on the success of `` The Raven '' by following it up with his essay `` The Philosophy of Composition '' ( 1846 ) , in which he detailed the poem 's creation . His description of its writing is probably exaggerated , though the essay serves as an important overview of Poe 's literary theory . He explains that every component of the poem is based on logic : the raven enters the chamber to avoid a storm ( the `` midnight dreary '' in the `` bleak December '' ) , and its perch on a pallid white bust was to create visual contrast against the dark black bird . No aspect of the poem was an accident , he claims , but is based on total control by the author . Even the term `` Nevermore '' , he says , is used because of the effect created by the long vowel sounds ( though Poe may have been inspired to use the word by the works of Lord Byron or Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ) . Poe had experimented with the long o sound throughout many other poems : `` no more '' in `` Silence '' , `` evermore '' in `` The Conqueror Worm '' . The topic itself , Poe says , was chosen because `` the death ... of a beautiful woman is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world . '' Told from `` the lips ... of a bereaved lover '' is best suited to achieve the desired effect . Beyond the poetics of it , the lost Lenore may have been inspired by events in Poe 's own life as well , either to the early loss of his mother , Eliza Poe , or the long illness endured by his wife , Virginia . Ultimately , Poe considered `` The Raven '' an experiment to `` suit at once the popular and critical taste '' , accessible to both the mainstream and high literary worlds . It is unknown how long Poe worked on `` The Raven '' ; speculation ranges from a single day to ten years . Poe recited a poem believed to be an early version with an alternate ending of `` The Raven '' in 1843 in Saratoga , New York . An early draft may have featured an owl .