Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Which lines of “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe show that the speaker has lost hope of ever being able to move on and recover from the pain of losing Lenore?

The ending of this poem by Edgar Allan Poe expresses this sad conclusion. In the poem, the appearance of the raven of the title brings to the narrator the conviction that Lenore is truly lost. The narrator initially does not or cannot understand the implications of the single word “nevermore” that the raven speaks; he believes the word has “little meaning—little relevancy.” Whatever thought the narrator utters aloud, the bird speaks only this word. Realizing that the word pertains to Lenore, the narrator begs the bird to abandon him, to forget Lenore, and to take away the narrator’s memories of her (“Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore”). The raven consistently refuses to do any of those things and just repeats the word. At the very end, the narrator admits the futility of trying to get rid of the bird and of hoping that he will see Lenore again in Heaven. Now, rather than speaking, the raven just casts his shadow, into which the narrator has been permanently absorbed.

And the lamplight o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floorShall be lifted—nevermore!

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