Mood Of The Raven

The word
that best describes the mood in 's "" is "uncanniness." The word
"uncanniness" describes a feeling of fear combined with wonder aroused by something
potentially dangerous that has never been experienced before: mysterious; arousing superstitious
fear or dread."

The speaker doesn't know what to make of this black bird
that pecks for admittance to his lonely chamber and then makes itself at home by perching on top
of a bust of Pallas Athene (Greek goddess of wisdom) above his chamber door. He doesn't know
whether to be frightened or amused. He doesn't know whether the bird is an evil spirit or just a
pet that escaped from its owner's home and is seeking shelter from the storm in another human
domicile.

The bird keeps repeating the single word "Nevermore," but
the speaker doesn't know whether the bird understands what it is saying or simply learned that
one word from its "unhappy master." The dictionary definition of the adjective
"Uncanny" is "Exciting wonder and fear; inexplicable." The fact that this
bird can speak at all makes it all the more uncanny.

The speaker is left in
deep despair. The reader is left wondering whether the bird was a supernatural messenger from
the world of the dead or just an ordinary raven caught by some human and taught to say a single
word. The mystery is like the mystery of life itself. Is there life after death? Is there any
possible hope in the promises made in the Bible? The speaker asks the bird that question, half
hoping for an answer.

Tell this soul with sorrow laden if,
within the distant Aidenn,

It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels
name --

Evidently the bird doesn't know the answers any
more than the speaker but it merely represents the mystery itself.