essay over the raven

THE RAVEN. Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore — While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. “ ’Tis some visiter,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door — Only this and nothing more.” Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December; And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor. Eagerly I wished the morrow; — vainly I had sought to borrow From my books surcease of sorrow — sorrow for the lost Lenore — For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore — Nameless here for evermore. And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Thrilled me — filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before; So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating “ ’Tis some visiter entreating entrance at my chamber door — Some late visiter entreating entrance at my chamber door; — This it is and nothing more.” Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer, “Sir,” said I, “or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore; But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping, And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door, That I scarce was sure I heard you” — here I opened wide the door; —— Darkness there and nothing more. Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before; But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token, And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, “Lenore?” This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, “Lenore!” — Merely this and nothing more. Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning, Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before. “Surely,” said I, “surely that is something.
This video introduces Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Raven.' Through Poe's use of poetic devices and dark Romantic characteristics, he is able to achieve the 'unity of effect' to appeal to critics and the masses both during his time and even still today. Honestly, if you haven't at least heard of Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Raven,' then you have likely been living under a rock. This famous poem, which was written in 1845, making him extremely popular even in his own time, has been referenced and parodied countless times over the 150 years since it was written. Even during Poe's time people were reciting the poem, almost like we would sing along to some LMFAO. We might just sing the lyrics at first, but eventually we'd start creating our own, playing off the original. The narrator receives a visit from a talking raven at night. So how popular is Poe? Like I said, countless allusions to and parodies of Poe's 'The Raven' exist today. His raven and lyrics have made it into books, movies, television shows, magazines, cartoons, and even professional wrestling. Yes. Professional wresting. Have you heard of Scott Levy, also known as The Raven? Or did you know that Poe was from Baltimore? Guess where they got the name for the NFL's Baltimore Ravens. Poe's raven shows up in multiple Stephen King novels. The Joker in 1989's Batman quotes the narrator of the poem. The Gilmore Girls, Calvin & Hobbs, and Mad Magazine pay homage to the Dark Romantic poet. Even The Simpsons, on their first ever 'Treehouse of Horror' episode provides us with their version of 'The Raven,' complete with a lovesick Homer and Bart-headed raven. The PoemEven if you are familiar with the haunting black bird and his taunting 'Nevermore,' you may not know the poem itself. The poem begins after midnight on a cold December evening. A man, the narrator, sits alone by the fire dozing off as he reads a book, hoping to forget.
Seraphim, in the fourteenth verse, perfumed by an unseen censer / Swung by seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled. is used to illustrate the swift, invisible way a scent spreads in a room. A seraphim is one of the six-winged angels standing in the presence of God. Nepenthe, from the same verse, is a potion, used by ancients to induce forgetfullnes of pain or sorrow. Balm in Gilead, from the following verse, is a soothing ointment made in Gilead, a mountainous region of Palestine east of the Jordan river. Aidenn, from the sixteenth verse, is an Arabic word for Eden or paradise. Plutonian, characteristic of Pluto, the god of the underworld in Roman mythology.