FREE ESSAY ON POE'S THE RAVEN

POE'S THE RAVEN

In Edgar Allan Poe's poems he writes about death and darkness. Throughout his 
poems, "The Raven" and "The Bells", Poe writes of death, darkness, and evil. Many say 
he writes about this because of his childhood problems. (Slovey p. 15) As you continue to

read, it will show how others feel about his writings and his desire to write about
death. 
In Edgar Allen Poe's poem, The Bells, Poe tells how bells can play a part throughout 
death and this causes readers to dislike the poem but it also has a positive effect on 
readers when Poe tells of bells being used as symbols of love. For example, some feel
that 
Poe's desire for death makes the poem less interesting. W.M. Auden tells how the Bells 
was less interesting but was more successful because the subject is nothing but an excuse

for onomatopoeic efforts. Also, some feel that Poe writes about death and darkness 
because of his drinking problems he had. (Slovey p. 22) Anthony Caputi feels that this 
poem marks the high tide of Poe's ineffectuality and also bears testimony to his immense

gift for poetic conception and thereby confronts us with the peculiar problem of Poe. 
(Poetry Criticism). In addition, some feel this poem has a sense of good and beauty to
it. 
Floyd Stovall writes how Poe defined poetry as music combined with a pleasurable idea 
and the poets truth is an excitement of the soul and it is the product of the
contemplation 
of beauty. So in Poe's poem, The Bells, he writes of death and evil but also of good and

love that leaves a positive and a negative effect on readers. 
In Edgar Allen Poe's ,The Raven, Poe uses a sense of darkness and evil throughout 
the poem by using the black bird as a symbol of evil. Some readers cannot understand 
how this poem has became so popular considering the evil that was used throughout the 
poem. Allen Tate says he can add very little to criticism of The Raven written in many 
passages that are wonders how it can be a great poem and how we have a necessary 
element like the beautiful dead lost Lenore. Furthermore, others feel the same and how 
The Raven leaves a lasting impression. Halden Braddy writes: In analyzing The Raven 
Poe held that the death of a beautiful women is unquestionably the most poetic topic in 
the world and how a lasting impression one receives in reading his poetry is then 
he championed beauty and love. Also, some feel that Poe writes of death and evil 
because of his childhood and how it led him to be an outcast. John Heath-Stubbs writes 
how Poe likewise was in some respects an outcast from his society and the poet was 
thought of as an arcane craftsman, a master of magical incantation, and an interpreter of

shadowy experience. So, throughout today's society, many feel Poe writes of darkness 
because of his troubles he has had and he expressed his feelings throughout his poems. 
Throughout Edgar Allen Poe's life he has written many poems concerning death and 
darkness which has led his poems to success that created some of his works to be 
published in many books that give readers a chance to see how Poe used death, evil, and 
darkness throughout his poems. For example, in The Raven, Poe uses words that gives 
the reader a feeling of death. "By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it 
wore." (pg. 183 literature book.) Also, in The Raven, Poe uses a black bird to symbolize

evil and darkness. "Prophet!" said I, "think of evil - prophet still, if bird or devil!"
(pg. 185 
literature book.) In conclusion to, In Poe's poem, The Bells, he describes some of the 
bells as being frightening; a sense of darkness occurs. "In the silence of the night How
we 
shiver with affright." (pg. 190 literature book.) So you can see how Poe used darkness 
and evil to portray a sense of fear and death. 
Edgar Allen Poe was a man who wrote of what he felt. As he grew up he had many 
problems. He began to write of death, evil, and darkness. Many feel that this has had a 
positive effect but also a negative effect. Some like the way he expresses his feelings 
about death but others feel there is no need for his poems to be so popular because the 
uses of death and evil throughout them.