Run, it's the Poe Poe!
Some of what Poe writes in his essay, "The Philosophy of Composition," I already knew--either from prior knowledge, assumption, or interpretation. Nonetheless, it was still interesting to read, and there were also new facts that I hadn't even imagined.
For example, the "mathematical precision" with which he wrote "The Raven," was actually really impressive. "...these considerations led me to the long o as the most sonorous vowel, in connection with r as the most producible consonant." (2524) He was so detailed in his approach as to consider what he put on the page down to the very letter. Not only that, but on 2526 he gets into the technicalities of rhythm and meter--"The former is trochaic--the latter is octameter actalectic, alternating with heptameter catalectic..." etc. etc. The real talent, in my opinion, was that Poe was able to construct a poem that flows easily from the readers lips, even with all its technical difficulty of composition. You can really take any stanza from the poem and see this; for the sake of using a quote,
"'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!
'Quoth the Raven 'Nevermore.'" (2541)
This quote shows not only the precision of Poe's word selection (look at line two--alliteration much?), but also segues nicely into my next point.
And this, I am unsure if I had heard somewhere before or if I knew instinctively: the character in the poem asks questions of the Raven, knowing what his answer will be. "...this first query a commonplace one--the second less so--the third still less...queries whose solution he has passionately at heart," and asks them "in that species of despair which delights in self-torture." (2525) The masochistic lover, in bereavement of his lost Lenore, probes the hellish messenger to give him answers that he has already ascertained within his own heart. Near the end of the poem, he queries:
"Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore--"
To which the Raven ominously and immutably replies, "'Nevermore'"
Knowing the bird can only reply with this word, the lover fashions his questions such that "nevermore" will suit his inquiries, and bury him deeper in his melancholy.
My third revelation after having read Poe's essay explains why "The Raven" has gained such renown and popularity the world over: "...the design of rendering the work universally appreciable." (2523) In this aspiration, Poe was extremely successful. He believes this has to do with many factors, such as length, tone, etc., but perhaps most importantly because of the refrain--Nevermore. "The pleasure is deduced solely from the sense of identity--of repetition...determined to produce continuously novel effects, by the variation of the application of the refrain--the refrain itself remaining, for the most part, unvaried." (2524) In this way, he appealed to the casual reader, and also the literary critic. I don't think another quote from the poem is necessary here.... each stanza ends in some variation of nevermore, as you know, having read it yourselves.
I hope this has been an enlightening post! gotta get to class :)
-Kofi
Along with "Nevermore"
We get tons of other "repetitious" words, I noticed the poem is filled with repetition, not just the exact repetition of nevermore, but a lot of the other words link into it. Like Lenore, before, adore etc. it is interesting how repetition of sound can make a poem flow.
beyond alliterataion
The alliteration is good, but look at the rest of the rhyming that is going on. There's end rhyme, of course. I'm not going to check to see if they all go abcbb in their rhyme scheme, but that's the "Easy" one. It's the internal rhyme, though, that gives the line, and much of the poem, and much of what I'd say is good rhyme, its power. Look at the 'e' in these words: "Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest." Then there is the end rhyme of the whether, tempter and whether again. Lots or rhymin' goin' on.
Bradley
Ingenious! :)
Haha! So right away I'm going to say, I just loved your title. Ingenious! I also liked the points you made and the way you explained them. In my first reading of the Raven, I was confused. It was only in my second time reading it through that I realized the lover was asking the Raven all those question... I know, blonde right? Haha! But yea, once i realized that, the poem made a lot more sense. :) The fact that the lover was fashioning his questions to suit his own purposes, as he already knew what the answer would be, was pretty cool too i think. it added a whole new level to the poem.
I think it says something
I think it says something about human nature, and our tendency to be masochistic and get down on ourselves. Especially when we are already in mourning--our mindset has everything to do with our perception of reality. It's like when we were talking about Puritans and how they see everything through their lens of piety. The same is true for people suffering depression, or anger, happiness, what have you.
-Kofi