Never Say Never

       Edgar Allan Poe was a very popular American writer and is still known today for his depressing tales of woe. Unfortunately, his most popular poem, "The Raven", is yet another sad American poem. This poem clearly defines romanticism in it's feelings of overpowering emotion, loss, and imagination. I recommend reading the poem to really get a true sense of the American romanticism movement because Poe's writing skills are highly impressive. 


       "The Raven", published by the American Review in February 1845, serves as a great milestone for American poetics. The story opens with a man recounting his relationship with a woman named Lenore. She is his "forgotten lore" (Poe 1). Suddenly, while in this state of depression and remembrance, the narrator hears a knocking at his door. He originally ignores the noise until the sound grows louder and moves to his window.  When he went to open his window, a raven flew in. The narrator, amused by this random event, asks the bird it's name. The bird replies "Nevermore". The man begins to talk to the raven saying things such as, "Other friends have flown before- On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before" (Poe 3). The raven simply replies, "Nevermore". The vocabulary of the raven includes only a single word- nevermore.
     
      As the man talks to the raven his mind wanders back to his lost love Lenore. He asks the raven if they will be together again in Heaven. He believes the raven to be sent from God to remove his anguish. The raven answers, "Nevermore". The narrator becomes furious with the bird because he feels as though his Lenore is forever lost and the Heavens have forsaken him. He commands the bird to leave, yet the bird never moves. The man feels as though he is trapped under the bird's depression of "nevermore" and will never be able to leave his dark shadow. The reader cannot help but feel pity for the man's condition. 


        The focus of anger in the poem is not reflected on the bird itself but on the answer of nevermore to certain emotional remarks. The narrator is in a state of depression and the bird's "nevermore" remarks are lowering his spirits. The romanticism movement's focus in America was on the profession of emotions. This poem is like a catharsis of emotions for the man. He wanted to be told by the bird that it would all be okay in the end, however the bird is "real" and tells the truth- the future is a broken and twisted path and not straight and perfect. 


Question: Have you ever felt like the man? Ever asked someone their opinion in hopes of high praise and been torn down due to their response?