The Raven

Arguably Poe's greatest work ever, "The Raven", is a timeless classic that everyone should read. It was first published in the New York Evening on January 29, 1845. (DISCovering) The first time I read "The Raven" in high school I was instantly fascinated in what would drive someone to write something like this. In "Poe's own essay about "The Raven," he describes the poem as one that reveals the human penchant for "self-torture" as evidenced by the speaker's tendency to weigh himself down with grief." (DISCovering)  Poe's life was filled with grief between being orphaned at a young age, getting disowned, constant debt, and the death of the ones he loved the most.  Grief can weigh anyone down for moment in their life but the amount of grief had to deal with was to much for him. Just as in the poem the speaker is so overcome with grief for his dead lover that he goes mad from it, believing a raven has actually cursed his soul so he will never see his dead lover in heaven. I personally believe that is how Poe felt about his life, the death of the almost and isolation from all the ones he loved drove him crazy, and since he had become this drunk from his years of running from debts, he could have felt that maybe he was never going to make it to heaven to see his loved ones again.  The speaker in "The Raven" feels his soul will "nevermore" feel happiness. (DISCovering) Poe was giving the world a look into what he was feeling at the time and the poem was released relatively close to his death.


The Raven