28.

The Raven: Structure, Themes, Unity of Effect

The Raven is Poes masterwork, thought to be his best poem structurally and content-wise. Poe elaborated the creation of this poem in his work The Philosophy of omposition!.

Structure: Alternation of 3 metres: octometre, hectametre and tetrametre, for the purpose of swift trochaic rhythm The rhyme scheme is constantly ABCBBB The rhythmic model for this poem was a work by "li#abeth $arret % &ady 'eraldines ourtship &ots of good alliteration. Poe took great pride in his technical skills. ( perfect poem should be )** lines long, so that it could be readable at a single sitting % The Raven has )*+ lines 'othic story elements in the poem , detective story elements, as the poem builds suspense Themes: . !eath of a "eautiful #oman: ( constant theme in Poes works. (ccording to Philosophy of omposition!, a perfect poem should evoke a mood of melancholy, with the theme being beauty % therefore death of a beautiful woman is a perfect theme. ".(. Poe was surrounded by deaths of several women, one of whom was his own mother, and later his own wife -irginia. The women in his works are not real characters, they are blank slates for their male lovers to inscribe their stories and emotions in. &enore is the perfect e.ample of this woman. 2. $on%in% for a lover an& a surro%ate mother: this theme is very closely related to the first one, and it is very personal. /n these beautiful women who died Poe and his narrator always seeks either for a lover or a mother he lost. 3. The Su'ernatural0 this poem is widely known for the feeling of terror and gloom it provokes for the reader, simply because of its supernatural elements. The setting, the state of the lover and his isolation are one part of the theme. The raven itself is an element of supernatural % a ghastly bird coming in the room of a scholar at a late hour, uttering words that scare him out of his wits. The narrator is in a numb state between walking and sleeping, life and death, the perfect basics for a supernatural setting. (. $ife in &eath an& &eath in life: The narrator is obsessed with death, and is desperately trying to bring his lost &enore to life1 the other solution would be his own death and seeing his lost love in 2eaven. The state of the narrator is e.actly this0 a numb feeling of being alive, stuck between death and life. The raven serves to bridge the gap between the two worlds % he is a messenger from heaven or hell. Plutonian shore! % after Pluto, 'reek god of underworld.

). *uestionin% of faith: dualistic theme, as through the poem, the narrator 3uestions his faith in 'od and the afterlife, as well as his own faith in &enore and his love for her. /n the end he returns to the god he loves! and the thought of his darling. +. Alienation an& loneliness: at the very beginning, we are faced with the fact that the narrator is located in a distant and secluded place, far from civili#ation and far from those he loves. This theme is necessary for the overall feeling of melancholy in the poem. ,. The En&: a feeling of finality undergoes through the whole song. 4ith notions such as midnight and 5ecember, the end of a day and the end of a year, we see the glimpses of a nearing ending 6death7 for the narrator Unity of Effect: Poe took this concept from ancient 'reek philosophers and writers. ( good work of art should have a unity of time, s'ace an& action. Poe implemented this unity in his work, elaborating his methods in Philosophy of omposition! The work must have a unity0 of time, sub8ect, matter, action, tone etc. The location of the narrator is very lu.urious and secluded % parallels with ancient 'reek mythology (n artists should start a 'oem "y thin-in% of #hat effect he #ants the 'oem to have on the rea&er All 'oems shoul& "e a"out "eauty. People should not seek truth in art but beauty. 5idactic poetry 9 no poetry. The perfect poem should evoke sadness as an emotion. The tone should be melancholy. Su".ect matter an& theme: the &eath of a "eautiful #oman , as the perfect combination of beauty and melancholy. ( poem should be only )** lines long, so it can be read in a single sitting.