Summary of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven"

“The Raven”, one of Edgar Allan Poe’s most famous poems, was first published in 1845. Like many of his works, this poem casts a shadow of loneliness and loss within a dark story. The image of the raven that comes to the main character’s chambers at night changes throughout this poem from one of a saint to that of a devilish spirit who will forever haunt him with thoughts of lost. This bird brings him a reminder of a lost love who he will never be with again, nevermore.

Poe opens his poem with a man sitting alone in his house in the dark on a cold December night. It is near midnight and the fire has begun to die out. This man is depressed and heartbroken, wishing for the night to be over and morning to reappear. His head drops down and nods as sleep slowly overcomes him. He wakes to a tapping which he mistakes to be a late night visitor knocking at his door. “Tis some visiter,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door, Only this and nothing more.”

A moment later the curtains rustled, giving him a fright. He stands and goes to answer the door while reassuring himself by repeating that it was only a visitor knocking at the door. As he opens the door he begins apologizing for the wait as he was napping and didn’t hear the knocking at first because it was so soft. But no one was there, only the darkness of night. Confused, he stands in the doorway and listens, but he only finds silence. His mind thinks back to his lost love and he dreams that maybe she has come back to him after death. In a whisper he speaks her name, Lenore. His whisper echoed once and again all is silent.

He goes back inside and closes the door. Again he hears tapping. This time it is louder and coming from the window. Frightened once again he goes to check the window, reassuring himself that it was only the wind knocking. He throws open the window shutters and in flies a raven with its wings flapping. The raven immediately flies above the chamber door and sits upon a statue of a Greek god named Pallas. “In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore.”

Looking at the proud behavior and formal color of its black feathers, he smiles to himself. Humored he asks the raven for its name. The raven replies, “Nevermore.” Although the raven’s remark holds little meaning, he marvels at the unique situation to have had this bird fly into his chambers and sit upon the statue above his door and be able to speak such a clear understandable word.

The raven remains motionless upon the statue above the door. The man remarks that much like his hopes the bird would not remain, tomorrow he would fly away. The raven again answers, “Nevermore”. Shocked at the bird’s response, he begins to believe that the raven was once owned by someone who had taught him that one single word. Repeated so often he has lost his ability to sing but can now only say, nevermore. Still, even this thought cheers him up.

Fascinated, he pulls up a violet velvet covered chair and sits in front of the raven. Watching it, he begins to ponder what it could mean when it uttered nevermore. While he sits, reclined and engaged in guessing its true meaning, the raven stares down upon him. Suddenly he feels a presence in the room. There seemed to be a hint of perfume in air. He screamed out at the raven, asking whether God has sent it to help him forget the late Lenore. But the raven only responded, “Nevermore”.

With that response he sees an evil mischief in the raven’s presence. He now screams out "Prophet! Thing of evil! Prophet still, if bird or devil! He begins to believe that the raven is evil and was sent to haunt him. The raven responds, “Nevermore”. Again he yells at the raven, asking if he is a prophet and if so tell him whether in death he will once again be reunited with his lost love, Lenore. The raven simply responds, “Nevermore”.

Upon this response from the raven, the man is fed up with the bird and demands that he fly back into the night. “Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend! Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!” He wants not even a single feather left behind to remind him of the lie that he has told of the reunion may never occur. The raven simply replies, “Nevermore”.

It sits motionless upon the Greek statue above the door, ignoring the request to leave. Above the raven a light casts its shadow down upon the floor. The raven, representing the memory of Lenore, remains. The man is hidden in its shadow, darkening his soul, Forevermore.