Last updated on April 30th, 2022 at 12:42 am
In Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven, the raven repeats the phrase “nevermore” many times throughout the poem, haunting the main character as he stews in his depression. So what does this phrase mean, and why did Poe choose to include it?
The raven says “nevermore” because it symbolizes the main character’s grief at the loss of his lover Lenore, reinforcing the truth that he will never see her again. At other points in the poem, the raven says “evermore,” a sign that the grief will continue to last for a long time.
This Is Why the Raven Says “Nevermore”
In Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven, the raven symbolizes wisdom, a living omen that speaks to the underlying truth of the matter at hand.
When the raven says “nevermore,” it reminds the protagonist of the deepest truth that his lover is gone, never to be seen or heard from again.
At other points in the poem, the Raven also says “evermore,” in which cases the raven speaks to the everlasting grief caused by the lover’s disappearance.
In both cases, the raven is persistent and continues to interrupt the protagonist’s sense of peace.
The raven’s persistence is key to the plot of the poem.
The speaker is trying to find solitude by secluding himself and separating himself from the truth of the situation.
Still, he keeps being interrupted by the raven, which makes him restless and sorrowful.
This constant interruption symbolizes how grief sticks with a person after a loss and interrupts the normal flow of life.
Why Does Edgar Allen Poe Use a Raven as a Symbol?
Edgar Allen Poe uses a raven as a symbol because he wanted a “non-reasoning” animal capable of speaking, and he wanted one that matched the tone of the poem.
The raven’s dark color and association with death made it the perfect choice.
According to some sources, Poe also considered an owl and a parrot before settling on the raven.
Unlike the owl or the parrot, the raven is associated with the underworld, such as what Poe references in the poem.
He describes the raven as coming from “Night’s Plutonian Shore,” directly referencing their origins in the underworld.
Understanding Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven
Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven is a poem about grief, with a protagonist that goes mad struggling with the loss of his lover.
Throughout the poem, he goes through each of the five stages of grief, listed below:
- Depression
- Denial
- Acceptance
- Bargaining
- Anger
Like in life, the main character moves in and out of these phases seamlessly throughout the poem, going back and forth rather than moving in a straightforward trajectory.
The raven haunts him throughout the process, luring him towards the brink of insanity.
Depression
The main character in The Raven describes his depression in many ways.
For example, he embodies the feeling in the objects around him, including “the silken sad uncertain rustling” of his curtains when he imagines a visitor at his door.
He also explicitly describes his suffering as a “sorrow for the lost Lenore,” his lover.
Denial
At one point in The Raven, the protagonist imagines that he hears Lenore’s name in the darkness, and he takes it to signify that Lenore might still be among the living.
He goes to his front door to check to see if she’s there, even though he already knows she has passed away.
Acceptance
Still, within the same poem, the narrator describes an acceptance of the truth, even while it depresses him.
He uses the term “nevermore” to describe Lenore, saying, “She shall press, ah, nevermore!” Here he is cementing in his mind an acceptance of the loss.
Bargaining
When the protagonist of The Raven begins to recognize the raven as a bringer of ill omen, he begins pleading with the bird to take leave of his house.
He yells at the bird to “Take thy beak from out my heart” and “take thy form from off my door!”
He wants the suffering from his loss to go away, and he’s trying to plead with the material form that his grief has taken.
Anger
The main character’s aggravation with the raven who torments him grows throughout the poem.
By the end, he flies into a rage at the bird, having a full-fledged fit and telling it to leave him alone.
He grows angry at the bird because it symbolizes the loss of his lover Lenore.
What Ravens Can Symbolize in Literature
In literature, ravens symbolize any of the following:
- Premonition
- Death
- Spirituality
- Wisdom
Premonition
Ravens are a common symbol of otherworldly premonition and deep insights, like in Charles Dickens’s Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty.
The raven offers wisdom to the main character.
In both Macbeth and Hamlet, the raven caws symbolize things to come, in both cases something negative.
Although, this isn’t the case in every literary reference to ravens.
Death
One of the most common things that a raven symbolizes in literature is death, likely because ravens are black and feed on a diet of carrion.
They’ve been associated with death in literature as old as that of the ancient Egyptians. They were associated with their god of the dead Nephthys during this time.
Spirituality
The raven is associated with divine intervention and witchcraft, depending on what culture you’re coming from.
In Asia, for example, the raven is seen as a symbol of sunlight and divinity, especially in Buddhist areas.
By contrast, in European areas, the raven may be seen as a symbol of wicked magic, like in the story Krabat and the Sorcerer’s Mill.
Wisdom
In some literature, the raven is simply seen as wise rather than a manifestation of anything otherworldly or spiritual.
For example, in Aesop’s fable “The Crow and the Raven,” the crow envies the raven’s position as wise among birds.
And then unsuccessfully pretends to be one to trick passers-by.
The moral of the story is that it’s unwise to pretend to be something you’re not.