Quoth the Raven

This was a very interesting criticism for me, and it was also easy to understand. The author broke down the poem into the actions and literary and poetic devices in order to show exactly what he meant. He also drew from a variety of sources. Not only did he use more contemporary criticisms of the poem, but he also drew from criticisms placed around the time that the poem was published.

One thing that I found interesting and that I liked about this criticism was that the critic mentioned the importance of the word "nevermore" to the story (Bloom). He talked about how its repetition created suspense and ultimately led up to the climax of the entire poem (Bloom). I felt that in our in-class discussion, the true importance of that single phrase, "Nevermore," was not fully discussed in depth. I agree with the critic on this, that it is the center piece of the entire plot of the poem.

Another thing that caught my interest, though in a different fashion, was the paragraph in which the critic talked about how the raven perched on the bust of Athena above the narrator's study door (Bloom). He mentions its significance, but one thing I found strange was that he did not mention Athena as the goddess of battle. He only acknowledges her as the goddess of learning and wisdom, saying that the "despair and grief [the raven] brings ultimately overwhelm the goddess's gifts to the intellect" (Bloom). While I do agree with this interpretation, I believe that the bust of Athena was also meant to be some sort of protection for the narrator as she was placed above his door and was the goddess of battle and wisdom.

A paragraph that I enjoyed reading in this criticism was the one describing the continually growing frenzied state of the narrator because that part of the poem was one of my favorites (Bloom). It builds up so much suspense right before the climax; it is the part where the narrator tries to dismiss the bird as only knowing how to say "nevermore" and being "caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster / Followed fast and followed faster til his songs one burden bore" (Poe) When you read it to yourself, you can almost hear the words getting faster and faster with more and more frenzy and panic until it seems that the only thing keeping the narrator somewhat sane is this single hope that this bird is just a lost pet.

I was also intrigued by something the critic brought up that I had never thought about before, and that is that the narrator, by the end of the poem, is obsessed with this bird's answer (Bloom). It perfectly explains the ending. His obsession is what keeps his spirit from being lifted "nevermore," and it is also what keeps the raven on the bust above his door (Poe). It was something small but interesting that I liked.

All in all, this poem is one of my favorites. The dark Romanticism in it is so wonderful, and I have been in love with it ever since I have read it. This criticism also opened my eyes to a few things in the poem that I would have otherwise missed, and that is why I chose it.

Works Cited

Bloom, Harold, ed. "'The Raven'." Edgar Allan Poe, Bloom's Major Poets. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 1999. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 22 Nov. 2010. .

Poe, Edgar A. "The Raven." The Raven and Other Poems. Ed. H. Behme. 1845. H. Behme, 4 Oct. 2007. Web. 22 Nov. 2010. .