"The Raven" by: Edgar Allan Poe

What would it be like to wake up in the middle of the night and hear "tapping" thinking to yourself, "'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door--
Only this and nothing more." This is exactly what the author writes in his poem "The Raven" written by Edgar Allan Poe. Edgar Allen Poe has written many poems, and short stories, all consisting of numerous symbols, some hidden, and some not as hidden.


Imagine this, you're at an old house, and you're all by yourself, you've been trying to fall asleep for hours upon hours, but it just seems like there is someone or something waiting there. What time would it usually be? Midnight. Midnight is often times used in stories, poems, and even movies to display that something bad is going to happen. This is the first symbol that is seen in this poem. Midnight is the fourth word that is written in this poem. " Once upon a midnight dreary..." As if the author wanted the setting the scene to be even more sad, and dark he adds the word dreary right after the word midnight,adding to the effect of the darkness. This is the first of many symbols leading up to a dark, and mysterious poem.


The next symbol in this story was the chamber door. If you were babysitting your little brother or sister, and you are playing a make-believe game, and your brother or sister decides that you need to go to the dungeon chamber. Would this be a place of happiness, or a place that you would be excited about going to? No. This would be a dark cold place, where little mice, are crawling along at your feet, and the floors, and walls are all cement, keeping you trapped inside. Maybe this is what the author was trying to symbolize. Or maybe it was something else. Maybe it was the opposite, maybe his "chamber door" was a place for him to get away, maybe it was the peaceful place that he needed to go to that would keep him safe, and keep him away from the cold "December" outdoors.


"Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December". Already we have the word December, which is a time of year where things are dying, and turning, brown, and the days are getting, shorter and darker. Another symbol of darkness. To again add to that is the word in front of it. Bleak. The Oxford Pocket American Dictionary of Current English's definition for Bleak is this, "unpromising, dreary". Probably not a word that would be used in happy poem about love, or happiness. But then shortly after this symbol is used we find another symbol. This symbol is the color "purple". "And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain". The color purple often times symbolizes royalty, wealth, or importance. So although we have the dreary dark symbols we then come upon this almost, happy symbol. The poem says "the rustling of each purple curtain". Because purple is often thought of as a royal color, and sometimes, some of the most royal people are sought after to be killed, could there have possibly been something, or someone behind that curtain, that was after the author of this poem? Poe says that his heart started beating faster, and he kept repeating the same phrase over and over again. "'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; this it is and nothing more." This clearly shows that Poe is starting to get very concerned about something.


The poem goes on and then Poe starts talking to whoever or whatever is there"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." The first symbol that is seen here is Poe opening the door wide, this symbolizes that he was opening the door to new oppurtunity's, perhaps it was just a visitor that was at his door, or perhaps it was something else. The next symbol that is seen in this short excerpt is when poe says "darkness there and nothing more". This shows that all that was there was pure darkness. Darkness also however symbolizes evil, so maybe there was something, or someone there but the person or object was evil, and the only way Poe could think to describe him or her, was as darkness.


The next large important thing that happens, is when the raven comes in. "Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore." Poe describes the Raven as stately. How could just a bird be so stately, and have so much power, it was all in his eyes. "And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming". When he looked into his eyes he saw something that was out of the ordinary something scary, something demonic. The thing that he saw, was pure evil.If Poe says that the eyes of the Raven that he was looking into the eyes of a demon that was dreaming. What would a demon dream of? Probably something not very pleasant. But then once you think more about it, and you think about when you look in someones eyes what do you see. You see a reflection of yourself.