The raven is a poem written and published by Allan Poe on January 29, 1845. It is about an undisclosed male character, who is mourning for his departed lover, Lenore. The poem is set in the character’s house, during a given December, which is characterized by freezing temperatures. Such weather and duration exaggerate his misery since they make him miss her loved one more. As a result, the man expects that God will grant him a reunion with that woman, Lenore, whom his heart was at peace.
Throughout the plot, Poe incorporates creative ideas, thoughts as well as actions to enhance his themes. For example, in the earlier stanzas, the character is imaginatively made to believe that he can meet a dead person. Equally, in the later verses, the speaker is modeled to communicate with a raven, which is non-human. These support some of the poem’s prevailing atmospheres such as death, afterlife, rationality, and irrationality among others. Thus, this paper seeks to attest that imagination is significant in The Raven since it enriches majority of its themes, which makes it both entertaining as well as educative.
Imagination in The Raven supports the concept of life after death. The conception is created in the poem as a method of soothing the narrator who is in a sorrowful mood. This is because he has lost his loved one, whom he hopes to be resurrected as he is very unsettled in her absence. In the early stanzas of the poem, imagination is depicted in the speaker’s monologue. For example, in verse four, the narrator fancies that Lenore makes the tapping of his window and door. “That I scarce was sure I heard you”—here I opened wide the door.” These lines show that the speaker is confident that his deceased woman is back to give him the warm company he was accustomed to. However, this is proved to be just a thought since the midnight breeze made the knocking.
Equally, in stanza fourteen Poe uses imagination to show that individuals believed for a second reunion of their deceased family members. “Wretch,” I cried, “thy God hath lent thee—by these angels he hath sent thee.’ The monologue depicts the speaker to a desperate being who is eager to see God sent angels land and reunify him with Lenore. Hence, through imagination, The Raven attests that societies believe in the presence of an afterlife, where they will meet their late colleagues again.
Consequently, the use of an imaginary raven in this poem signifies rationality as well as irrationality. This bird is imaginary, but it manages to control most action and thoughts of the speaker. Although the reader can candidly see the bird as an unreal creature which is integrated to complete the speaker’s monologue, it manages to achieve its intended meaning since it manipulates a human being, making him nervous and hopeless. This results since the Ravens are built to keep on repeating the term ‘nevermore.’ For example, in verse ten the narrator becomes cautious about how he treats a non-human by figuring out how other friends of his had departed him, “Other friends have flown before.”
His reasoning is scaled down to a point where he cannot realize that it is just a bird. Besides, through imaginations, the bird demoralizes the persona in stanza fourteen when it denies his ideas, “…oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!’ by using the same phrase ‘nevermore.’ Such imaginative thoughts annoy the speaker despite the fact that a mere bird initiates them. Thus, through imagination, The Raven accomplishes its mission of making death something that deprives individuals their senses of being rational.
However, by incorporating an imaginary bird that seems to be talking, the poem becomes mystical. This is because a raven is believed to be an evil creature, notably through biblical perspectives. The fact that it raven arrives at a deceased man’s house at cold midnight sums it all that it is a symbol of destruction. Furthermore, since the bird seems to oppose most of the persona’s optimistic views, it illusions devilish thoughts that are likely to arise in a somber atmosphere. For example, the line, “Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil! —prophet still, if bird or devil’ asserts that the speaker is beginning to associate the creature to an evil spirit. This word implies that the narrator’s senses might be back that is he may have realized that the raven was not physically present. Essentially, such imagery in The Raven depicts that during moments of disasters, evil thoughts have higher chances of engulfing our minds.
Lastly, the poem utilizes imaginations to resolve the conflict between authenticity and fantasy. It shows that the majority of thoughts in the poem might be dreamt. For example, from the last stanza, ‘And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting…’ it is clear that the narrator might have been dreaming since the poem set at midnight, depicting that sleep might have overtaken him. On the other hand, imaginations imply that the raven might be real. Notably, in the last stanza, the narrator claims that a shadow of the creature was floating on the floor indicating that it might have actually existed physically. Besides, such lines show that the persona is paranoid and is plagued with despair as well as disillusion. Therefore, Poe’s imaginative ideas create a skirmish that makes readers engrosses the readers to keenly follow the plot to understand what is real and fictional.
In conclusion, the imaginative ideas and thoughts in the poem The Raven arouse concepts of life after death and second reunions. Poe achieves this by making the narrator imagine that his wife Lenore might be coming back as a spirit. Moreover, the speaker depicts this by claiming that God may have mercy on him, hence send angels to for his comforting. Imagination also creates rationality and irrationality in the poem. Notably, the assumption that a bird has capabilities to talk controls the thinking mind of the narrator. Consequently, it creates desperation and dissolutions atmospheres, which are likely to be experienced by families that have lost their loved ones.
