Looking at “The Raven” & “Annabel Lee”

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Before writing “The Raven,” Poe asked himself the question, “Of all melancholy topics, what, according to the universal understanding of mankind, is most melancholy?” His answer: death.

He then decided that the most poetic version of melancholy is the death of a beautiful woman. This topic is what the speaker ponders in “The Raven,” and his sorrow is embodied by the poem’s title character.

Like much of Poe’s writing, the poem explores one aspect of the dark side of human nature—in this case, what Poe called “that species of despair which delights in self-torture.”

Poe wrote a poem titled “Lenore”

Guy de Vere cannot weep for his dead beloved Lenore. He gives an elegy in which he berates everyone for loving her wealth and hating her pride, suggesting that people had wished her ill and effectively killed her. The narrator asks him not to speak in this manner, although Lenore has taken away Hope in her death. Guy responds that he does not mourn because her soul has ascended to Heaven.

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What is the setting of “The Raven”?

How does the setting contribute to the mood of the poem?

What does the raven symbolize?

What does the raven’s shadow symbolize? (See last stanza)

Who is Lenore and where is she now?

What six things does the narrator say/ask the raven?

Why does the narrator say “nevermore” in stanza 13?

Describe the change in the narrator’s emotions throughout the poem.

Give an example and explanation of each from the poem: 1) gothic colors, 2) gothic weather, 3) gothic seasons, 4) gothic setting, 5) gothic romance.

Follow along with handout:

It was many and many a year ago,In a kingdom by the sea,

That a maiden there lived whom you may know

By the name of ANNABEL LEE;And this maiden she lived with no other

thoughtThan to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,In this kingdom by the sea;

But we loved with a love that was more than love-

I and my Annabel Lee;With a love that the winged seraphs of

heavenCoveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,In this kingdom by the sea,

A wind blew out of a cloud, chillingMy beautiful Annabel Lee;

So that her highborn kinsman cameAnd bore her away from me,To shut her up in a sepulchreIn this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,

Went envying her and me-Yes!- that was the reason (as all men

know,In this kingdom by the sea)

That the wind came out of the cloud by night,

Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love

Of those who were older than we-Of many far wiser than we-

And neither the angels in heaven above,

Nor the demons down under the sea,Can ever dissever my soul from the

soulOf the beautiful Annabel Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;And the stars never rise but I feel the

bright eyesOf the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side

Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,

In the sepulchre there by the sea,In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Give an example and explanation of each:Gothic settingGothic weatherGothic seasonsGothic colorsGothic romance

What happened to Annabel Lee? Use the text to explain.

Who do you think Annabel Lee was to Poe? Why?

Use context clues to define the following:Winged seraphs of

heavenHer highborn kinsmanDemons down under

the seaSepulcher there by

the sea

Give three examples from the poem that state this is a love poem.