Nevermore The Chamber Door ((EXCLUSIVE))
Poe emphasizes how stunned the character is at looking into the hardships and suffering of his life (the darkness) through the wide-opened door of his insecurity (the chamber door) by stating that he began to doubt himself and his expectations of what he would find. He expected to find a visitor ( sympathy) but instead found empty darkness ( suffering). The character finally makes a bold move he utters from his mouth what facing the suffering forced him to think of: Lenore. To his surprise from his suffering came back a voice saying Lenore and nothing more. This exposes that the sole core of his suffering was truly Lenore and he had to open that door of his self-doubt and weakness to figure it out.
Nevermore The Chamber Door
The character finally snaps out of his shock and closes the door. He realizes his fears to be true. The one thing that he has no control over is truly the only thing causing him weakness: the loss of Lenore. Then he hears a tapping by the window and this window represents realization for our character. He has now realized his fear through his weaknesses and suffering that he will forever have to live with the fact that he has lost Lenore. He is hesitant to embrace the realization (he hesitates to open the window), but he now wants to explore this newfound awareness.
The character accepts the existence of this raven in his life and says he expects it to leave as others usually do. Signifying the reality of his emotions; that he feels just like all other feelings come and go, so will this feeling of intense grief and loss (the raven). The raven speaks out and states: nevermore. Highlighting and foreshadowing that it will not leave. It is going to stay with the character forever.
He continues to call the raven a prophet and a thing of evil as he dramatically keeps accepting the word of the raven as the answer to his questions. He then asks for the raven to tell him if he will ever get to hold Lenore again, and predictably the raven says: nevermore.
That is significant because it gives the reader closure. It tells the reader that even though the character welcomed the feelings of loss and grief when he opened the window of realization, he despises them now. These emotions appear to him as demonic. And the shadow the cast over him; meaning the mood that is created from these feelings has a permanent hold on his soul. He has been defeated by his feelings after facing them, and he will find peace: nevermore.
"The Raven" is a poem about a man who is heartbroken over the recent death of his beloved Lenore. As he passes a lonely December night in his room, a raven taps repeatedly on the door and then the window. The man first thinks the noise is caused by a late night visitor come to disturb him, and he is surprised to find the raven when he opens the window shutter. After being let in, the raven flies to and lands on a bust of Pallas (an ancient Greek goddess of wisdom).
The man reflects aloud that the bird will leave him soon as all the people he cared about have left him. When the raven replies "nevermore," the man takes it as the bird agreeing with him, although it's unclear if the raven actually understands what the man is saying or is just speaking the one word it knows.
As the man continues to converse with the bird, he slowly loses his grip on reality. He moves his chair directly in front of the raven and asks it despairing questions, including whether he and Lenore will be reunited in heaven. Now, instead of being merely amused by the bird, he takes the raven's repeated "nevermore" response as a sign that all his dark thoughts are true. He eventually grows angry and shrieks at the raven, calling it a devil and a thing of evil.
Grief is the overwhelming emotion in "The Raven," and the narrator is absolutely consumed by his grief for his lost love, Lenore. At the beginning of the poem, he tries to distract himself from his sadness by reading a "volume of forgotten lore", but when the raven arrives, he immediately begins peppering it with questions about Lenore and becomes further lost in his grief at the raven's response of "nevermore." By the end of the poem, the narrator is seemingly broken, stating that his soul will never again be "lifted" due to his sadness.
At the beginning of the poem, the narrator is rational enough to understand that Lenore is dead and he will not see her again. When the raven first begins repeating "nevermore," he realizes that the answer is the bird's "only stock and store," and he won't get another response no matter what he asks. He seems to even find the bird vaguely amusing.
However, as the poem continues, the narrator's irrationality increases as he asks the raven questions it couldn't possibly know and takes its repeated response of "nevermore" to be a truthful and logical answer. He then descends further into madness, cursing the bird as a "devil" and "thing of evil" and thinking he feels angels surrounding him before sinking into his grief. He has clearly come undone by the end of the poem.
The final "nevermore" in this poem comes from the narrator. The narrator gives over to the bird and adopts a fatalistic attitude: he is resigned to a future trapped within his sadness and imprisoned by his loss of Lenore.
Nevermore, which the narrator originally interpreted as the Raven's name here becomes a menacing threat: the narrator will never forget his lost Lenore, he will never recover from his grief. Notice that the meaning of "nevermore" underscores the narrator's decline into madness.
The second time the Raven utters this word, it suggests that he will never again leave this chamber. The narrator initially fears that the bird, a brief source of entertainment and levity, will leave him as his friends and hopes have. With this, he sees the Raven ominously promising to stay indefinitely, and the bird becomes more menacing than friendly.
Obeisance is the respectful acknowledgement of one's superior. Notice that the narrator immediately attributes human characteristics to this bird, even before it speaks. Because one would not normally expect an animal to bow or perform social customs upon entering a chamber, this expectation reveals the narrator's unstable mental state.
This long and polite apology demonstrates two things about the narrator. First, the narrator's politeness and social etiquette suggest that he is a member of the upper class. Second, the speaker is nervously prattling to whomever he thinks is outside the door. This suggests that he is nervous and afraid of whomever, or whatever is on the other side of the door.
Repetition is a literary technique that Poe uses throughout this poem. In the beginning, the narrator uses repetition to reassure himself and calm his nerves. However, this same technique will later be the source of his distress when the Raven begins to repeat "nevermore."
By whispering the name of the deceased Lenore, the narrator reveals the extent of his depression and how her loss has so affected him. This perhaps explains why the initial rustling of the curtains and tapping on the door provoked such a reaction within him.
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore —While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door —"'Tis some visiter," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door — Only this and nothing more."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 borrowFrom my books surcease of sorrow — sorrow for the lost Lenore —For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore — Nameless here for evermore.And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtainThrilled me — filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating,"'Tis some visiter entreating entrance at my chamber door —Some late visiter entreating entrance at my chamber door; — This it is and nothing more."Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,"Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,That I scarce was sure I heard you " — here I opened wide the door; —— Darkness there and nothing more.Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore?"This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!" — Merely this and nothing more.Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before."Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice;Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore —Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;— 'Tis the wind and nothing more!"Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore;Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door —Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door — Perched, and sat, and nothing more.Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven,Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore —Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!" Quoth the Raven "Nevermore."Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,Though its answer little meaning — little relevancy bore;For we cannot help agreeing that no living human beingEver yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door —Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door, With such name as "Nevermore."But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke onlyThat one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.Nothing further then he uttered — not a feather then he fluttered —Till I scarcely more than muttered "Other friends have flown before —On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before." Then the bird said "Nevermore."Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,"Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and storeCaught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful DisasterFollowed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore —Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore Of 'Never — nevermore'."But the Raven still beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linkingFancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore —What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt and ominous bird of yore Meant in croaking "Nevermore."This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressingTo the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease recliningOn the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er, She shall press, ah, nevermore!Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censerSwung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor."Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee — by these angels he hath sent theeRespite — respite and nepenthe, from thy memories of Lenore;Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!" Quoth the Raven "Nevermore.""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.""Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil — prophet still, if bird or devil!By that Heaven that bends above us — by that God we both adore —Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore —Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore." Quoth the Raven "Nevermore.""Be that word our sign in parting, bird or fiend!" I shrieked, upstarting —"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!Leave my loneliness unbroken! — quit the bust above my door!Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!" Quoth the Raven "Nevermore."And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sittingOn the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor Shall be lifted — nevermore! 041b061a72