The Raven

by Edgar Allan Poe

"The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. First published in January 1845, the poem is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a talking raven's mysterious visit to a distraught lover, tracing the man's slow fall into madness. The lover, often identified as being a student, is lamenting the loss of his love, Lenore. Sitting on a bust of Pallas, the raven seems to further distress the protagonist with its constant repetition of the word "Nevermore". The poem makes use of folk, mythological, religious, and classical references.

Genres: Classics, Poetry, Horror, Fiction, Gothic, Short Stories, School

36 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1845

About the author

The name Poe brings to mind images of murderers and madmen, premature burials, and mysterious women who return from the dead. His works have been in print since 1827 and include such literary classics as The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, and The Fall of the House of Usher. This versatile writer’s oeuvre includes short stories, poetry, a novel, a textbook, a book of scientific theory, and hundreds of essays and book reviews. He is widely acknowledged as the inventor of the modern detective story and an innovator in the science fiction genre, but he made his living as America’s first great literary critic and theoretician. Poe’s reputation today rests primarily on his tales of terror as well as on his haunting lyric poetry.

Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name.

The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death, and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business.

For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_al...

Reviews

[Federico DN · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wes Craven.
by Federico DN

For the love of God, poetry please begone!
I loathe ye! Can’t thou see? Just let me be!
Obliterated my soul, poetry stands alone.
..................Curious I will be, “Nevermore.”

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PERSONAL NOTE :
[1845] [6p] [Horror] [Poetry] [Conditional Recommendable]

[It’s public domain. You can find it HERE.]

One of the best poems ever written. Poe’s. Not mine!
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★★★☆☆ The Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
★★☆☆☆ The Complete Stories and Poems
★★★☆☆ The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Writings
★★★☆☆ The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales
★☆☆☆☆ The Raven and Other Poems

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San Lorenzo.
por Federico DN

Por el amor de Dios, ¡poesía adiós!
¡Ódiote! ¿Acaso no ves? ¡Déjame ser!
Obliterada mi alma, poesía vos ganás.
...............Curioso seré, “Nunca jamás.”

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NOTA PERSONAL :
[1845] [6p] [Horror] [Poesía] [Recomendable Condicional]

[Es dominio público, lo pueden encontrar ACA.]

Uno de los mejores poemas jamás escritos. El de Poe. ¡No el mío!
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[Sean Barrs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shall we descend into madness? Shall we be haunted by our own desires? Shall we be consumed by that terrible facet of life known only as death? Shall we cling to what cannot be reanimated? Shall we wish for a return of something that has long been in darkness?

Shall we become obliterated by the brutal finality of such a statement as “nevermore?”

Lenore has gone. She has departed from this life, and is permanently out of the reach of the man. The raven represents the solidarity of this. Despite how much he longs for the impossible, despite how much he hopes for something that could never occur, he still has that inclination that the fantastical could happen: he has to believe that she could come back. And the raven represents the voice of reason, the voice of actuality. And it kills him. It is pain, despair, melancholy and a spiritual death all rolled into one haunting feathery package.

He rebels against this voice of rationality. He knows the voice speaks the truth, but he cannot simply accept it. He has lost something vital; he has lost part of himself that will never grace his presence again. And he clings to hope, a false hope such as it is. The raven smashes this to oblivion; it destroys any last semblance of the miraculous occurring. It makes the man realise that this is life, not some whimsical world where nothing bad ever happens. People die. People we love die. Nothing can change that. Lenore will never walk through his chamber door again, and the reality drives him into madness. It shatters his life.

”And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er 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!”



His soul will never lift anymore; hope shall never be lifted anymore. By the end of the poem he has full realised the reality of the situation. The raven, the dark bird of harsh truth, the harbinger of the words he simply doesn’t want to hear, has become demonised. It has become the very object he did not want to face; he created a sense of longing to protect himself from the emotional loss of Lenore, and this bubble of falsehood has been burst. Reality sets in, and it is a fate worse than death. It is one of persecution and mental chaos as the bird is simply unable to supply the man with all his answers. He is driven mad by the unknown.

The man in the poem has lost “Lenore.” But, what is this Lenore? Is she a woman? Is she this man’s lost love? Or is she something much, much, more? I think on the surface level of the poem she is his dead wife. But the archaic references speak of something else. Lenore could perhaps be a universal suggestion of a lost sense of self or even humanity. We are no longer what we once were. It is also rather significant that the man is persecuted only by the natural world. Very much in the Romanticism vein, man stands aside from nature. He has become something different with his modernisation and industrialisation.

He walks outside his nature. And Poe, being an anti-transcendentalism thinker (a dark romantic), demonstrates that life isn’t all sunshine and roses, and nor could it ever be. It is pessimism in full force, and although I strongly disagree with the outlook on life, and appreciate the idealistic utopia offered in the poetry of Percy Shelley and other Romantics much more, I do love the dark beauty of this poem. The finality of the phrase “nevermore” is nothing short of maddening reality for our lost man. It is the end of hope.

This is quite easily one of Poe's finest works, and I highly recommend listening to this version of the poem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Befli... (It's narrated by Christopher Lee!)

[Meghhnaa (On a Review-Writing Break!) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comprehensive and exhaustive work of Poe, on a lover’s grief and affliction, lamenting over his tragic lost love. With the focus on death, the supernatural, battle between emotions vs cogency, the poem circles around “Dark Romanticism”

The poem’s opening line, sets the perfect meter for grief and distress-
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary
The narrator is wearied out, and finds the night to be totally depressing and drab!

The 3 main characters of the poem are-
1. The Narrator, who supposedly reads books on “lore”/ legends, and is a scholar, lost in the world of books.
2. The Raven, the speaking bird, who won’t leave the narrator alone, and is a perfect symbol of depression and death.
3. Lenore, the dead wife/lover, symbolizing the tragic lost love.

Poem's Plot-
The unnamed lonely narrator, finds solace post losing his love/wife, in books. He distracts himself by reading, when he hears a tap at his door-

“While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping”
Desperately wishing, that his dead wife has returned back, all he hears is just an echo back of his spoken word!
“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.”

Retreating back to his chamber, he hears a tapping on his window, and sees a stately Raven, landing on the bust of Pallas above his chamber door!

“In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore;”

The Raven can speak, and answers to all the narrator’s questions with the repeated word- “Nevermore”
The word, “Nevermore” holds the highest significance in the poem, as it assures the narrator that he can find Lenore never again, and his affliction is permanent!

The poem leaves us pondering, if the Raven is actually replying to all his questions with the word “Nevermore” or is the narrator hallucinating and fantasizing in melancholy, and crashing into a deep abyss of madness and perpetual and incessant grief!
The recitation, is full of mesmer and music!

Few of the notable points-

The Raven, has been addressed as many things - prophet, wretch, an ill-omen, thing of evil, "whether tempter sent" (probably referring as a tempest!)
The dead lover is reverently referenced to as – “a radiant maiden" and "a sainted maiden whom the angels named Lenore"

The best part of the poem, is the amalgamation of Paganism and Christianity with the diligent allusion to symbols. Sharing a few-
The Book of Lore – Probably Poe here references to the books on occult and black magic!
Pallas - The raven lands on the head of the bust representing Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom. Poe here implies, that the narrator is a scholar and well-read!
Night's Plutonian shore- Pluto, is regarded to be the God of the Underworld. Here Poe, may be trying to infer the raven as the messenger from the afterlife/after-death!
Nepenthe – is a drug that erases memory, from one of my personal favorites- “The Odyssey” by Homer! It is used here to lessen the pain of losing the lover.
Balm in Gilead - A soothing ointment found in the mountainous region of Palestine!
Aidenn - An Arabic word meaning Garden of Eden/Paradise. Poe uses the word to ask if Lenore can be accepted into Heaven.
Seraphim- In The Bible (Isaiah:6): "fiery ones," a high ranking, six-winged angel. It also refers to as an invisible way a scent profusely spreads in a room.

A 5-star showered, for the word “Nevermore”, as he can never see his dead wife again! An endless melancholy of lost love has been surgically and intricately represented in the utmost musical and mesmeric way. Only Allan Poe could have done this. I am in an irreversible awe!

NB- The narrator, tried to escape from the irrevocable grief by locking himself in a chamber (the main setting of this poem). This solitary chamber, turns out not to be impenetrable from the unending thoughts of the Lost Lenore! The lovers have been put asunder! Melancholy has invaded his life in entirety, and so has Poe’s magic on me! 😊
I still can’t come to terms, that a poem based on irrevocable grief and lamentations, has won a 5-star from me! :-O
Kudos to Poe!

[Gaurav Sagar · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Raven is a piercing piece by Edgar Allan Poe who I am reading for the very first time. I read it with holding the breath in an unnamable, haunting feeling due to the eerie atmosphere created by the poet through the verses. It’s a dreary, windy winter night with only a flicker of an old lamp burning like a symbol of hope, you feel the crushing effect on your heart, which is pounding heavily, of such a gothic setting, the horror gets intensified when the poundings on the rags of your old door, hit our soul than anything else. The unnamed narrator sits upon one such late December night, mourning over the loss of his beloved, Lenore, suddenly, someone tries to snatch even his procession of grieving from him as if he can’t even lament over his loss when he hears the prospects of thunderous intrusion from someone through the door.


link: source

Who could it be? Someone insane, someone known or the God himself to assuage him to withstand his great loss or the devil who wants him to suffer as if he doesn’t have right to express his sorrow or some prophet who may prophesize something about his beloved- Lenore. The narrator contemplated with bated breath over the possibilities and horrors of the probable uninvited guest to eventually find out that it was an ebony, lustrous, shimmering ‘raven’ who appears to be a prophet of the God, the prophet who seems to be in some divine space, unaffected by mere mortals, speaking with angelic demeanor only one word- ‘Nevermore’.


The narrator incessantly ponders upon the probable meanings, allusions of the word uttered by the ‘raven’, the very meaning of the raven’s existence seems elusive too to him. There is a multitude of possibilities of the word- ‘Nevermore’ which the narrator explores throughout the poem, it fills his heart with warmth and geniality that whether he would be able to see his beloved Lenore again in the afterlife- heaven. The narrator asks the raven with full of hope and belief about it but the godlike raven seems to be in a heavenly expanse, responding enigmatically to the heart-wrenching but innocent queries of the narrator with only ‘Nevermore.’


‘The Raven’ is a great example of narrative poetry, in which a story is being told, often having a narrator and giving voice to him/ her and other characters too, the entire story is generally being written in a metered verse. The poem is a profound study of loneliness, grieving, insanity, melancholy, prophecy, and more than anything else it is about madness. It is essentially about the exploration of the fact that sometimes logic could not justify our intense and deepest feelings such as grief and mourning.


link: source

The opium of hope which one carries throughout one’s life, our narrator perhaps also relies on it to recover from the heart-breaking loss of his beloved and to get some solace from his unremitting suffering, even if in the afterlife but, as usually happens in life, his founding of any hope and longing is crushed to nothingness, thrusting him from grief and despair to anguish and desperation. The battle a man fights may not be as gruesome as physical ones but leaves bruises and wounds deeper than physical battles seem to be capable of, perhaps deep down the heart of an individual. The raven seems to have parlance of a devil emerging from heaven or hell, robs the narrator of any traces of normality and eventually, madness takes over, surmising that time is the only healer in life and nothing else may be capable to provide comfort and solace to a man from his sufferings.


The raven may say to be a symbol to represent the actual reality in life though it may utter only one word, in a sense that one needs to accept and which our narrator seems to deny- the loss of Lenore, we see that the narrator moves from his endless rumination over the loss of his beloved maiden to manifestation of evil. Ravens are generally considered in various civilizations to have connotations of death, as the narrator himself notes when he refers to the bird as coming from “Night’s Plutonian shore,” or the underworld. The raven emphasizes the fact that the narrator may never meet his love, neither in this world nor in any other as she has become ‘nameless’ and formless, she ceases to exist and the narrator is condemned to live in this world realizing and recognizing its reality by leaving out any seeming elixir of impossible hope.


How difficult is it to make peace with life, to accept life as it is? More often than not, we see that people tend to live with their sufferings as if they find some unseen comfort in them but our brains behave differently than we think and our grief, loss, and sufferings make it act in funny ways some of which may be completely insane and full of madness. It reminds me of The Body Artist by Don DeLillo, I read recently, and which is also a profound study of how we react during intense grief and loss underlining the fact that often madness wins over sanity and our narrator of the poem here is no exception to that.


It was my first read of Edgar Allan Poe and I thoroughly enjoyed it and looking forward to reading more of him. Highly recommended for everyone.


4.5/5

[Luís · Rating 5 out of 5]

One freezing December evening, a man in his room, dozing over his book, thought of Lenore, his now-deceased sweetheart.
But noise at her door knocked her out of her reverie. After making several hypotheses and finally making up its mind, it opens up and, despite its inactivity, to a majestic crow. Amused but intrigued, he stupidly asks her name. The raven then responds, "Never again." The narrator questions himself and asks other questions.
But the crow responds every time, Never again.
Paralyzed, the man realizes that he is under the influence of the raven until the next day, which only repeats "never again."
The somewhat magical atmosphere is veiled when the raven arrives, making the narrator sink into a paralyzing madness.
That's a bird-filled room with its shadow, which never refrains more.
The poetic writing makes the narration tenser. How can a simple crow be so scary?
Also, I couldn't do this review without mentioning The Simpsons, who directed it for their first Simpson Horror Show. Even thanks to them, I heard the raven when I was little.

[Nat ཐི༏ཋྀ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is one of Poe's finest works. To narrate a brief story with beauty, cadence, and lyrical language, coupled with the undercurrent of mourning and despair, these elements culminate in a poem that lingers. On the surface, a grieving man sits alone in his chamber until he is visited by a raven whose presence seems to deepen his sorrow. The Raven speaks only one word: "Nevermore." Yet it is precisely this abruptness and brevity that produced such a powerful effect on me.

At first, the man is amused by the Raven's single word, but his grief soon drives him to ask myriad questions, only to receive the same unchanging utterance. The man, laden with immense grief that eventually descends into madness, ultimately perceives the Raven as a demonic entity. Yet, is it really his fault that, on that fateful night, a talking bird happened to perch upon his Pallas bust—which is the ultimate catalyst for his undoing? Unlike in Annabel Lee, the man doesn't grasp for hope but is crushed by the loss of it, especially after knowing that his soul won't be soothed but forever imprisoned in a veil of sorrow.

In the end, The Raven stands as one of my most cherished poems, it is a remarkable blend of grief, lyrical cadence, and the haunting realisation that the bird not only symbolises sorrow, but also serves as a kind of torture device, through which the man seeks reassurance—even if it is impossible.

5 stars

[Annet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nevermore! ...........
Read this poem, listen to this poem and study the drawings of Gustave Dore... and know this is a unique masterpiece. Hauntingly beautiful. Brooding, dark, desperate, mysterious... These starting lines are famous I think:
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."

Hauntingly beautiful. The encounter of a man mourning over his deceased wife Lenore and a darkblack raven.....And the additional beauty of it, go to YouTube and listen to a really brooding telling by Sir Christopher Lee. Listen how he says "Nevermore!" in a gruelling way. I first read it, studied the drawings and then I started listening.... And if you search further there are tellings by Christopher Walken and of course, Vincent Price. All wonderful and weird, intriguing.
Edgar Allen Poe, what was in his mind? Brilliant writer!
....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....

Christopher Lee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Befli...
Christopher Walken: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7G_f...
Vincent Price: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7zR3...

[Poppyflowerjj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poe — Are you OK!!

Beautiful, classic, and creepy. I feel like Poe needs a hug or a weighted blanket. Heartbreaking.🖤🖤

[Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, classic prose.

Reread as part of going through his complete works. This one will always be one of my favorites!

[Flo · Rating 5 out of 5]

And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted—nevermore!

Themes such as loss and relentless melancholy - nothing foreign to Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) - combined with a repetitive rhythm that gives it a unique and gradually oppressive musicality resulted in one of the best literary works of all time, The Raven.

This edition, first published in 1844, includes the steel-plate engravings by renowned French artist Gustave Doré (1832–1883), who died shortly after completing the series.

This is the second time I read Poe's masterpiece and it was an entirely different experience. After several poetry collections, I was able to appreciate his creative genius and connect with his words on another level, something I couldn't do many years ago.

The following excerpt is part of the Introduction. In few words, Poe's haunting Raven was portrayed with utmost perfection.

The Mirror's editor, Nathaniel P. Willis included a short preface to "The Raven", in which he wrote:

In our opinion, it is the most effective single example of "fugitive poetry" ever published in this country, and unsurpassed in English poetry for subtle conception, masterly ingenuity of versification, and consistent sustaining of imaginative lift...

July 23,18
* Also on my blog.

[Francesc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Borges considera que no es un buen poema de Poe y no seré yo quien diga lo contrario. Cada uno tiene sus gustos.
Este poema me ha evocado miedo, pérdida, nostalgia de amor. No es una maravilla por como está escrito, sino por todo lo que transmite y por su originalidad.
Así lo he vivido yo.

Borges considers it's not a good poem by Poe and I will not say otherwise. Everyone has his own ideas.
This poem has evoked fear, loss, longing for love. It is not a marvel for how it is written, but for all that it conveys and for its originality.
This is how I have experienced it.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific, of course. I was looking for a short and spooky October read and “The Raven” was the very first thing that came to mind. I was obsessed with Poe as an teenager and spent all of tenth grade English copying his writing style, right up until I wrote a campy poem called “The Crow” that involved a certain corvid sitting on the bust of Julius Caesar in Axl Rose's study, at which point my teacher told me that I needed to come up with a different writer to emulate. I was also obsessed with Guns N' Roses, by the way. And why Julius Caesar? I have no idea. He was probably the "fanciest" person I could come up with.

So, yeah, lots of nostalgia with this one, and it's still one of my favorite poems of all time. 5 stars.

[Rosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a Nutshell: The audio version helped me crack a classic poem! Enjoyed it way more than I expected. (This isn’t an insult to Poe, but an honest comment about my – Ahem! – outstanding poetic sensibilities.)

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I am not a staunch fan of verse. This logical head much prefers to read stories in prose then in poem form. I do love a few poems, but I am very much a traditionalist in my choices. Free verse makes my head spin. Rhymes and repetitions make a poem a “poem’ in my eyes.

‘The Raven’ was not at all on my reading radar. To be honest, I have attempted it twice in the last couple of years, but my brain is so anti-verse that the moment it sees lengthy poems, it goes a-wandering after the threshold limit is crossed. Any poem that extends beyond 15-20 lines gives me palpitations. However, a retelling based on this poem is present in the anthology I am currently reading, and I like to be familiar with the source material when I read retellings. Hence the brave decision of checking this out.

When I looked for a free version online (the poem is in the public domain, being originally published in January 1845), I stumbled upon Wikipedia, which, to my surprise and relief, featured an audio recording of this poem. I thus decided to try immersion reading - audio in the ears and text in front of the eyes - to coerce my brain into cooperating, and this idea worked brilliantly!

The poem is made up of 18 stanzas of six lines each. Generally, the meter is trochaic octameter—eight trochaic feet per line, each foot having one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable. (The poetic smartness evident in this para should immediately make you realise that I didn’t write it. I copied it from Wiki so that I remember in future what a long poem I read! 😛)

Not being aware of the above poetic details while reading the work, all I knew was that I enjoyed the narrative poem tremendously. The rhythm of the words, the pattern of the rhymes, the stress on maintaining the meter, the increasing chaos of the narrator’s mind – each factor contributed in making my experience a memorable one.

Credit also goes to whoever was narrating it on the Wiki page. I don’t know how to detect the narrator on the Wikipedia recording, but he was amazing! What an excellent rendering of this poem, with a spirited reading and the right word stresses in perfect rhythm! 5 stars to his performance.

If you are afraid to try poems and want to check this out on audio, I’d certainly recommend the Wiki version. It’s just 7 minutes long – an added bonus.


My heart: Have I ever felt a poem hit so deep within my core?

My brain: Never before!

My heart: Will I attempt in future, without the audio, lengthy poems of yore?

My brain: Nevermore!

My heart: Will I now rush to read such works like a bull towards a matador?

My brain: You’re kidding, right?


4.25 stars.

Here’s the Wiki page, for the poem, the analysis, and the recording!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raven





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[Ahmed Ejaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning, 
Soon again I heard a tapping something louder than
before

WoW! What a poem it is!!

I am not into poems that much but this poem is exceptionally awesome. I couldn't stop reading this. I have read this poem at least 3 times by now. It's just that amazing. Once you started, you couldn't be able to stop until the end.
I have fallen in love with this poem of E. A. Poe. Madly!! I have even downloaded its audio version. And that's also really great.

I will not be spoiling any part of it. I would highly recommend this poem. It's just a five minutes read guys! Go head! Read it!
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem...

For audio version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Befli...

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.

22 January, 2017

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

First... you must read the introductory stanza from Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem, The Raven. And then I'll provide a short review:

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 someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more.”

And this is what will happen to you once you read it:



Yeah, I probably should have told you that part first, huh? But that's the thing about Mr. Poe. He enjoyed the fact that his writing drove him crazy. And all of us. That tapping... non-stop... reminds you of his other work, The Tell-Tale Heart.

This raven and its real or imaginary appearance is such a powerful image. And here's the thing about this poem... you need to have a professional read this poem aloud, perhaps with a little music in the background. Just a little bit, as the words in the poem... the rhymes, the images... it's ghastly. And if the speaker is as brilliant as Poe, (s)he will alter their voice as each line erupts, enticing the rhythm and the beat. And when it happens, the fear will surround you. The words will penetrate you as your eyes ears lay still, absorbing the melody and the lyrics.

It may sound funny, but find a recording of it. Listen to it in a semi-dark room. And just let the poem attack your mind and body. I believe it's what inspired the boat ride in the Willy Wonka movie... only much darker. You will love it!



About Me
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[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Happy Halloween, EAP! This is probably the best poem in history ever to have sold for $9. But what is it about? That's a more difficult question. The poem has undeniable power, but its power (as in much of Poe) is not entirely susceptible of rational explication.

First, there's the sheer liturgical music of the poem, as evidenced from the very opening lines:

"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.'"

We've technically got 8-syllable troches here (trochaic octometer?), with the stress on the first syllable of each line, but the real genius is how the rhymes weave in and out of the lines, with the rhymes not just happening at the end of each line but also in between (dreary / weary; napping / tapping). As a reader, you get so caught up in the sing-song rhymes that what exactly is happening seems secondary, and the fact that it's often opaque seems irrelevant to its linguistic power. Or perhaps it heightens its power in the same way as the Latin Mass, through the sheer rhythmic beauty of the sounds themselves.

Because really almost nothing is explained here--who's Lenore? What's the raven doing? Was there another visitor at the door? What does "nevermore" mean?

No, as in much of Poe, what's transcendent here is the feeling, the emotion, of dread, loss, and the slow descent into madness, until at the end, "the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting" about his door, "And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor / Shall be lifted--nevermore!"

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful art captures the impending doom that permeates this poem - listen to Christopher Lee recite this poem on YouTube as you turn the pages...SENDS SHIVERS DOWN MY SPINE! I think it is so very important to introduce young children to classic literature - this book is a very approachable text that has truly innovative art that will appeal to readers of all ages.

[Navessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Am I the only one creeped out by ravens? Every time I hear mention of them I shudder. I mean, come on. Have you ever heard one croak? Second question; have you ever heard a tree full of them croak? I have.

There I was, minding my own business, just trying to walk home from the bus stop. I didn’t even see them until I was directly beneath the tree. I heard this strange rustling sound and thought it was weird because the leaves had already fallen. Naturally, I paused to look up. What was I met with?



Okay, maybe it wasn’t that dramatic but I was eleven and they were just up there…looking at me…with their beady little eyes…and their stabby little beaks. Then one opened its mouth and croaked. Then another joined in. Then another.

I ran the rest of the way home. I was convinced that it was some kind of omen and I was going to die within 24 hours. My mom didn’t buy it. That heartless woman made me go to school. I spent the next day acting like some kind of little schizo, jumping at noises, slinking down hallways, screaming whenever a loud noise went off. What? I had an overactive imagination as a kid.

Ravens still creep me out. Crows too. They hang out in groups called murders. They’re far too intelligent for comfort. It’s in the eyes, in the way they just…stare at you.

*shudder*

Did you know that they can count to five? One species even makes its own tools. And another…sorry, I’m getting off topic. I avoided reading this poem until I was in my twenties. I’d read all of his other works before I sucked it up and attempted this. It gave me nightmares.

I suggest never reading Poe’s thoughts on this poem. It takes the magic away. His approach to writing it was too clinical, too structured. I like to ignore what he said about his method and picture him gaunt and disheveled, crouched over a piece of parchment and scribbling away like a madman.

I’ll leave you with my favorite passage:

“And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o’er 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!”

This review can also be found at The Book Eaters.

[Fernando · Rating 5 out of 5]

¡Y pensar que Edgar Allan Poe recibió tan sólo 10 dólares por su poema más famoso y uno de los más memorables en la historia de la literatura!
Originalmente había pensado en llamarlo "The Parrot", pero la elección del cuervo le dio un lustre más oscuro de lúgubre desasosiego del yo lírico que declama la pérdida de su querida Lenore.
La aliteración utilizada en el poema es única (como en el caso de su otro poema "The Bells"), y será eterno.
Forevermore!

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't count how many times I've read this. It's brilliant. No, that doesn't do it justice. It's...
And The Simpsons very first Halloween episode did a good job with it too. 👤

[Steven Serpens · Rating 2 out of 5]

En este poema tan célebre de su autor, conoceremos a un hombre muy atormentado por la soledad que enfrenta tras la pérdida de su esposa, el cual posteriormente, recibirá la compañía de un peculiar cuervo que tiene la capacidad de hablar, pero que tan solo puede pronunciar una palabra. Una premisa bastante cautivante, pero ¿se aplicará esto a su lectura? ¿Realmente es ésta la magnun opus de Poe? Veremos... 😬

Para contextualizarlos antes de entrar de lleno en el meollo del asunto, debo confesar que, dentro de mi ignorancia, siempre tuve la ridícula creencia de que la poesía no eran más que rimas y versos, con puras temáticas cursis y románticas, bellamente escritas para hacer que las mujeres (funado por sexista) den grandes suspiros tras leer cada estrofa; pero, esta lectura me enseñó que estuve muy equivocado.

Al principio, pensé que esto se basaba en los mismos personajes que los del relato Eleonora, solo que el nombre de la mujer en esta oportunidad es Leonora. Creí que eso podía deberse a un error de traducción o algo así, pero buscando más información al respecto, comprobé que no era el caso. Pero antes de cerciorarme, estaba convencidísimo de que esta trama se situaba en Eleonora, durante algún punto previo a que el protagonista conociese a Ermengarde; lo cual me lleva a reflexionar en que el parecido entre ambos nombres femeninos no es para nada una casualidad. Es por esa misma razón que me gusta imaginar que El cuervo es una especie de sucesor espiritual de Eleonora, en alguna línea temporal alterna, donde el protagonista jamás conoció a Ermengarde como ya mencioné. Realmente espero que Poe lo haya concebido e ideado de tal forma, porque el contexto y el trasfondo de ambos títulos son muy parecidos y da para teorizar algo así.
También siento que este cuervo perfectamente podría ser una reencarnación de la amada Leonora, aunque en ese caso, termine siendo más un tormento que una compañía para el protagonista; porque este pájaro agorero es un claro recordatorio de su soledad, ya que difícilmente él se sentirá acompañado de ese alado espécimen que lo perturba constantemente.

Ahora sí, habiendo dicho todo lo que tenía por decir sobre el poema, llegó el momento de mi experiencia personal con este tan famoso poema, y es evidente que causaré polémica. Así que, con plena certeza, puedo decir que, hasta el momento, esta es mi peor lectura de Poe; pero que no se me malinterprete, porque la trama me parece que es fabulosa como ya indiqué en la premisa. Es una muy buena historia, pero considero con firme convicción de que haya sido concebida como un poema, no fue la decisión correcta. Eso no le hace ninguna justicia a El cuervo, aparte de restarle muchísimo.
Probablemente si esta historia hubiese sido un cuento corto como su autor nos tenía acostumbrados, y donde se pueda apreciar la caída del protagonista hacia la locura gracias a este pájaro, probablemente se situaría entre lo mejor de su bibliografía. Ese es justa y precisamente el principal problema que le encuentro a El cuervo como fuente de lectura: que sea un poema.
Es por esto último que realmente no sé cómo apreciar a esta obra, ya que me causó menos que Eleonora, porque se siente como cuando te compras un paquete de papas fritas y hay más aíre que contenido. Para mí, mucha fama tiene El cuervo, pero contiene muy pocos snacks.
Aunque lo que sí se podría elogiar es el hecho de que esta obra contenga varias referencias a la mitología grecorromana, por lo que no me cabe duda de que debe connotar bastantes simbolismos para posteriores relecturas.

Trataré de simplificar las cosas para dar mi calificación, ya que aparentemente todavía no me he dado a entender del todo. De nuevo ejemplificaré con mi caballito de batalla: Los anteojos. Aquel relato tiene la trama que menos me ha gustado y/o motivado de todas las que he leído en el recopilatorio de Poe hasta ahora, pero no es la peor lectura. Hay otros trabajos de Poe con mejores tramas y premisas, pero que han sido peores lecturas y con las que he conectado menos y, El cuervo, al ser un poema, no pudo conectar conmigo.
Siento que este formato narrativo también afectó a la traducción de la edición que leí, porque con los cuentos y relatos cortos no he sentido eso. Tampoco quiero usar el tema de la traducción como justificación o excusa por no haber podido disfrutar en absoluto de este poema, porque ni siquiera me interesa leer la versión de Julio Cortázar, quien es considerado como el mejor traductor de Edgar Allan Poe.
La verdad, estoy totalmente desconectado de este título. Me sorprende sobremanera que casi toda la iconografía del autor sea sobre cuervos. Inclusive, mi ejemplar de Narraciones extraordinarias que estoy leyendo para reseñarle todos sus relatos, ostenta flamantemente en su portada a esta ave de mal agüero que se ve genial; pero que dicha genialidad no es aplicable a su lectura, si es que no se es un adepto a la poesía.

Finalmente, llegó el momento en el que van a querer lanzarme por la borda, arrojarme a los leones, condenarme a la horca y sentenciarme a la guillotina, cual reina de corazones; porque, sin lugar a duda, por haber sido mi peor lectura de este autor, la posiciono de forma inmediata en el último lugar del top 28 que estoy organizando. Encantado le hubiese calificado con 1.5 estrellas, pero por tener una buena e interesante trama, obtendrá una puntuación más alta. Si no fuese por esto último, mi generosidad no sería la misma.
Por ende, mi calificación final para El cuervo es de ★★☆☆☆. Se ganó media estrella más solamente por su interesante trasfondo y por abrirme los ojos a una perspectiva que desconocía acerca de la poesía, debido a mi ignorancia en ese campo.

En conclusión, no comprendo ni me interesa adentrarme en este género literario, y eso que tuve la mente totalmente abierta para la presente obra. No es para nada lo mío y eso afectó sobremanera a este título y a mi percepción sobre las lecturas poéticas a nivel general. Creo que lo único que algún día estaré dispuesto a leer del género como última oportunidad, serán los Hongos de Yuggoth, de Lovecraft.
Ahora, como moraleja, si un clásico glorificado, endiosado e idolatrado por todos no te convence por diversas razones, hay que atreverse a decirlo para no caer en falsedades banales ni superficiales, ni mucho menos pretender quedar bien ante los demás con cínicamente; con evitar ser así tendrás más autenticidad como persona y eso será algo que reforzará tu pensamiento crítico, para poder cuestionarte mejor las cosas y no seguir a las masas solo porque sí, ya que no eres un borrego.
La historia que aquí se presenta quizá pueda ser perdurable en el tiempo, pero como lectura es totalmente olvidable. Una rareza que toda la iconografía del autor se base en esto, cuando está a eones de ser su mejor trabajo (al menos para mí).
No recomiendo El cuervo bajo ningún motivo a quienes nunca hayan leído a Poe y quieran empezar a adentrarse a su obra con este poema. Es decir, si te interesa este autor, pero no te llama la atención la poesía, tienes muchísimas más opciones para leer.

Para no perder el hilo con las demás reseñas que he hecho sobre las obras de Edgar Allan Poe:

1) El gato negro, cuya reseña está bugueada en el feed de Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
2) El cuervo, el único poema que he reseñado de este autor: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
3) Narraciones extraordinarias, recopilatorio en donde reúno a los 28 relatos que he leído de Poe, además de incluir un top personal al respecto; junto con dar mi opinión en profundidad sobre él como autor: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

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."



I had started reading the Raven before but was never able to quite get through it. When I came across this illustrated version at my library I decided to give it another shot. The illustrated version made it so much better. The illustrations by Ryan Price are dark and gritty… much like the story of the Raven. I’ve read several illustrated books this year that have added a certain something to the already great story (A Monster Calls comes immediately to mind) and the Raven is no exception.

You can find a few more illustrations by Ryan Price from the book here but I would also recommend checking out the rest of his work here as well, although I must say I think his work in the Raven is my favorite.

[Jim C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a poem about a man who misses his deceased wife. The poem I read had no illustrations so this review is just for the poem.

This was required reading back in high school (many years ago) and I hated it. I do not like poetry. I don't get it and I never will. For me to give this four stars now is just a testament of how great this written work really is. I believe when I read this in high school I could not identify with the main character and the symbolism went over my head. But now I get it. The man misses his wife and dealing with grief. He is dealing with the hopelessness of the situation in his mind and wondering is there more to life than just on this plane. I get his situation now. This is a very short poem but filled with symbolism throughout. Another impressive thing about this poem is just not the symbolism or the story but the way it was written. It was lyrical with the rhyming and I could not help say out loud "nevermore" every time I read it.

This is truly a terrific piece of work and I understand why it stood the test of time. Everything works with this piece. It probably deserves five stars but I just cannot give a poem a five star rating because of my dislike of poetry. But if any poem would ever change my mind it would be this one. I am so glad that I read it again after all these years and I would not be surprised if I read this again in the future.

[Samra Yusuf · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know the place between sleep and wake, the place where you can still remember dreaming, it’s a worst place to be in when you no longer can sleep nor can dream.we,the humans are a doomed species who ever breathed on planet earth, the moments we cherish turns into memories, the things we desire become wishes, the people we love turns into strangers, and the present we live becomes past…
We all live our dear life with a feel of loss, we all devise altered approaches to seek peace, we all at some phase of our life are rendered alone in a crowd of people around us, we all want to be more understood than loved, we all want someone to hear us when our inner voice is too deafening to hear anything, we all have heard the tapping of something at our window, we all have called those at the past night who are no longer with us, and we’ve heard them answering to our call, talking to us in whispers, when the eyes sleep but heart beats in a relentless rhythm, we hear them,beacause we so want to..
Poe, has a distinct eminence in saying so much with so little words, One can virtually sense the drabness and the loneness he must have felt being alone in his study with barely a fire left and everything dark around him. It almost is letting you think he is completely lost in his own misery from his loss, the loss of his loved one, narrator in his sleep-wake state hears the tapping on window, and at first encounters nothing but darkness.
Raven, can surely be the imagination of the narrator and so is the whole dialogue that proceeds, but using this bird only, has its own regard, Raven is a historical figure in bible, Norse mythology and other references, it symbolizes bad omen, thought and memory, death, darkness, wisdom and at times superiority, and we glimpse all the symbolism visualized through lines.
Whatever caused the poet to die early, The Raven and its symbolism has to do with his psychosis….
and as he says:
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before....

[Alejandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nevermore!


RAISE RAVENS...

First of all, two things...

...one, I classified this poem as a "short story" since I haven't read so much poetry as to justify a tag for that in my personal list to describe books...

...two, I rated 4 stars, since kinda the same reason, due I haven't developed a knack for poetry, but since I was curious about this poem by Edgar Allan Poe, still I read it, and certainly I liked it quite a bit, but it's some hard to enjoy for me poetry. Nobody's fault.

This is easily one of the most famous poems of all time and one of the masterpieces in the middle of Poe's works.

And this edition has the plus of having the gorgeous illustrations by Gustave Doré (that I already knew about him thanks to "Pawn Stars" where another book illustrated by him was taken there).

Funny thing is that most people think that a talking raven is a paranormal element, in an episode of "Doctor Who" (Capaldi's era) was shown ravens talking too as something unusual, but I watched a TV show in "Nat Geo Wild" where they informed that ravens indeed learn to "talk", much like parrots, repeating words that they heard. Ravens even do a "funeral" ceremony for those dead ravens that they find, reuniting for a moment around the fallen comrade. Amazing animals, the ravens are.

In this captivating poem, a male character is mourning the loss of his lover, Lenore, and in the middle of his sorrow, a raven gets into the room, and while the bird only says "Nevermore", the male character manages to think that this raven is answering all his questions, not matter how diverse are.

When you are in deep pain...

...you only hear what you want to hear...

...even if it makes you angry.

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 4 out of 5]

A macabre poem depicting a man driven to excruciating loneliness and grief from being unable to let go of the memories of his dead lover Lenore.

It's a tragic tale full of death and sorrow, a tale of how one's unwillingness to let go of dark memories and past tragedies will only push them to the edge of insanity.

A gothic classic.

[Melki · Rating 5 out of 5]

[leynes · Rating 5 out of 5]

REREAD (2025):
If you know you know. Don't talk to me.

Ich finde es irgendwie affig eine Rezension zu einem einzelnen Gedicht zu schreiben, das nur 18 Strophen umfasst. Jede*r von euch kann das Gedicht online finden und innerhalb von 5 Minuten selber lesen. (Das würde ich euch übrigens auch ans Herz legen!) Es ist eines meiner absoluten Lieblingsgedichte. Poes Sprachwitz, die Reime, der Inhalt – alles passt bei diesem Gedicht. Wenn ihr es lesen solltet, würde ich euch raten, dass ihr euch selbst oder einer anderen Person das Gedicht laut vorliest. Da merkt man erstmal, wie viele Gedanken sich Poe gemacht haben muss. Die Art wie der Mund arbeitet, um die Laute des Gedichts im richtigen Meter wiederzugeben – das Gedicht spricht sich wie ein moderner Rapsong. Man wird von der einen förmlich zur nächsten Zeile gezogen und gesogen. Es ist einfach ganz wunderbar.

Mein obiger Kommentar ("If you know you know") bezog sich übrigens auf Suzanne Collins Sunrise on the Reaping, in dem das Gedicht mehrfach auftaucht und zum Ende des Romans in langen Ausschnitten zitiert wird. Ich hab's geliebt und das Gedicht dann in voller Länge mehrfach angehört (im Vortrag von Christopher Lee) und auch selbst nochmal gelesen. Ich kann nie genug davon bekommen. Als ich dann Ende Mai nochmal bei reBuy bestellte, sah ich, dass eine Ausgabe des Gedichts inklusive der tollen Illustrationen von Gustave Doré erhältlich war. Natürlich habe ich da sofort zugeschlagen und war positiv überrascht, als ich sah, dass das Heft über DIN A4 groß ist. Es hat dieselbe Größe wie mein Heft mit Dorés Illustrationen zu Dantes Göttlicher Komödie. Dieses große Format ist perfekt, da Dorés Stil so detailreich ist, dass man einfach unglaublich viel entdecken kann. Wenn ihr die Zeit habt, schaut euch auf jeden Fall Dorés Illustrationen zu "The Raven" an! Es handelt sich hier um eine Reihe von kahlen, wunderschön eindringlichen Stahlstichen – und zugleich auch um Dorés Vermächtnis. Doré starb kurz nach der Fertigstellung der Illustrationen im Alter von 51 Jahren und seine Arbeit zu "The Raven" wurde 1884 posthum veröffentlicht.

REVIEW (2016):
My only advice for reading Poe's The Raven is that you try to read it out loud as if you were performing it in front of a crowd, only then you can grab the true mastery of what this poem does on a phonetic level! This poem gave me chills; I will treasure it from here on out for the rest of my life. It truly has become one of my favorite poems of all time. I might even learn it by heart, who knows.

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be honest, I picked up this one seeing the word 'illustrated' and (oh boy!) I am not disappointed.
Reading this one has taken out the part of my being which LOVES dark themes of human imagination.
I totally fell for the dark, black and white themed gory illustration!

Then there's the story in poetry format which I absolutely loved reading.

I don't think I would have loved this one without the illustrations.
I love the play of words and the classic rhyming pattern.
This has got my imagination run wild!
Made me think of vampires and ghosts and angels and demons and god.

Warning: Don't read it at midnight unless it's Halloween.

Because you will start missing Halloween.

No, no! Be scared those who will get scared by reading this (I don't mind☺️).

[CC · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars with a bonus for the illustrations, which can be found online here for free, with images and text side by side.

One of my goals this year is to catch up on classics, which hasn't quite been my cup of tea ever since I stopped reading them for school. This was pretty good given my expectations. The language and cadence and rhymes were beautiful. The plot might have taken me a few tries to fully understand, and didn't feel as special, but I have a weak spot for lyrical writing so I enjoyed this overall. Now, this is the first poem I've read in like ... maybe ever? So consider my sample size limited and my rating skewed. I'll very likely be reading more in order to fix that soon.