Symbols In The Raven

The works of Edgar Allan Poe have been far from under-analyzed. Perhaps none more than his famous poem “The Raven.” Never-the-less, a fresh set of eyes often never hurt, and it often speaks uniquely to different people. Perhaps this is the beauty of poetry. The solitary room as well as the depressing and lonely time of a midnight in December not only prepare the setting of the poem but also stresses the emotional situation of the narrator, whom is full of bereavement due to the loss of his beloved Lenore. The time and month is important to note, for midnight and December both symbolize the end of something as well as the anticipation of change or movement into the new. In fact, the day Poe is referring to may even be New Years Eve, which is a day that celebrates the conclusion and introduction of years. These times could be set so that the reader may expect a …show more content…
The two ravens would fly across the entire world every day before reporting back to Odin. They were, in a sense, Odin’s eyes and ears. Huginn symbolized thought, which could reinforce the ideal of the narrator being a scholar. Muninn, on the other hand, is symbolic of memory. Muninn, therefore, reveals that the raven is much more than just the conveyor of bad news but is also the narrator’s forlorn recollection of his lost Lenore. Before he realizes that the bird is nothing more than a prophet of ill omens, he hopes for good news as he questions the bird. The narrator first implores if the bird is meant to be respite and nepenthes. Nepenthe is a mythical drug that, in the Odyssey, was described by Homer as a beverage one could take to relieve all ailments. In “The Raven,” the narrator begins to hallucinate a perfume filling the room and seems to conclude that God himself has made the choice to help ridden him of his bereavement through something similar to Homer’s