"""The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe has been popular for more than 100 years. Does it merit this continued attention?""

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published in 1845, so it has been around for over 160 years. Poe published the poem in two
magazines at the same time.  The rumors about the poem have been boundless; however, one seems
particularly interesting: Poe sold his poem for five dollars. Throughout his life, Poe struggled
financially. 

The poem fits into todays popular horror genre.  In the poem, a
student who is struggling physically and emotionally drinks a strong drug: nepenthe.  It was an
opiate that certainly would have clouded the judgment of the drinker.  The young man begins to
hear noises.  He recently has lost his love: .  Opening the door, he actually expects to see her
corpse standing outside his door and is disappointed when she is not there. 

The mood changes slightly when a black bird taps outside the window of the man.  The
man lets the bird in his room which intrigues him as the bird alights on a statue of the goddess
of wisdom Athena and begins to stare at the man.  The raven has a limited vocabulary when he
answers Nevermore to every question. 

The young man
begins to lose his mind. Finally, he believes that his soul is blending with the soul of the
bird.

Why has the poem maintained its popularity?

The subject matter

Most people like to be
scared by literature or visual media.  The topics in the poem include death, insanity, weird
human-like animal, drugs, an eerie setting, and love.  What more could a reader ask from a
poem!

The style of writing

Poes use
of , comparison, , andcreate the sinister mood and tone of the poem:

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the
bleak

          December;

And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost          
upon the floor.

Eagerly I wished the morrow;

From this description, Poe provides the time of the year, the weather, and the scary
reference to the fire making ghost-like images on the floor. Even the poorwishes that it was the
next day.

Within this brief portion of the verse, the poet uses imagery,
alliteration, and a .

The Art of
Interpretation

The poem has become a part of our literary
masterpieces, and thus is included in almost all school curriculum.  It is a fun poem to
interpret and expose the man and his bird to the 21st century.