Foreword
Michaelangelo left behind the statue of David and the sistine chapel as a reminder to the world of his incredible talents. Leonardo Da Vinci is remembered mainly for that one painting called the Mona Lisa.
The Raven is Edgar Allen Poe’s Mona Lisa, the work he is best known for. It is a poem that bears testimonial to the sheer beauty of poetry at its darkest best.
The Raven, is also an insight into Poe’s personal hell, expressed in a beautiful yet melancholic way.
My review....
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; vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow, sorrow for the lost Lenore, .
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore,
Nameless here forevermore.
Essence of the verses
On a day in December a man, tormented by thoughts of his lost love Lenore, decides to read books of ’’Forgotten Lore’’ to ease his sorrow. He has a surprise visitor - the beautiful ebony bird - The Raven. The bird flew in and perched on the bust of Pallas Athena - the Greek God of wisdom where it sits throughout.
The man asks the Raven its name and it replies ’’Nevermore’’...
Curious... the man asks the bird question after question to which, the bird keeps answering ’’Nevermore’’...
The man then tells himself that the bird is like everything else on earth... and will leave him like everything else left him... when the bird hears these thoughts, it goes ’’Nevermore’’....
The man is puzzled and as he tries to figure out why the bird only said one word.... his thoughts drift to his lost love Lenore... the man’s mood starts getting darker... he starts to believe that the bird has been sent to deliver him from his anguish... when he shares the thought... the bird replies in the same manner...
In his growing grief, the man starts abusing the bird...
’’Prophet!’’ said I, ’’thing of evil!--prophet still, if bird or devil!
Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate, yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted--
On this home by horror haunted--tell me truly, I implore:
Is there--is there balm in Gilead?--tell me--tell me I implore!’’
Quoth the raven, ’’Nevermore.’’
The man asked the raven if there ever was a release from his grief... the raven replies ’’nevermore’’....
(note... I was intrigued by the reference to the balm in gilead so I asked someone years ago and the answer I got was thats its something that came out of the bible... metaphorically speaking it means something like ’a relief from suffering’)
The man is in a rage and now wants to send the bird back to where it came from... i.e. the depths of hell... but the bird... calm as calm can be had only one answer...
Nevermore....
The bird stayed put... perched on the bust of Pallas Athena... an eternal reminder of the love he had lost...
Quoth the raven, ’’Nevermore.’’
~finis~
I have failed to capture the beauty of the poem through my words...
My request, please read ’The Raven’ - https://comnet.ca/~forrest/raven.html