The Raven as the Apostrophe
- Brandy Bennett
- Sep 8
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 18
The raven in Edgar Allan Poe's 19th century gothic poem titled "The Raven" is a symbolic literary device. The raven synonymously represents gothic poetry exploring themes of the macabre, and melancholy. This genre of poetics uses bleak and somber verse to express psychological states of grief associated with death. In modern day, this genre becomes a theme resonating with the natural sensory of Autumn commonly understood through Autumnal Equinox. Each year during this season literature enthusiast revisit classic literature with dark moods and poetic sensory effect. “The Raven” is a classic in this Gothic genre ushering in Poe’s voice to stir the senses that are in tune with the supernatural.
The poem “The Raven” was first published in 1845 after the enlightenment in Europe. The enlightenment sought to diverge knowledge from reason. The supernatural and the afterlife in Gothic writing were not understood through reasoning. This genre’s effects can be felt though Poe’s poems with the use of emotions such as despair. The Gothic genre felt effect from Romanticism too coinciding with the Romantic period. Writers during this time focused on the effects of heightened psychological experiences recorded through wordage about profound stages of romanticized grief. This type of romantic Gothic writing differs immensely in comparison to Romantic poets’ styles such as Robert Burns and Percy Bysshe Shelley.
The stark comparison of this poetic genre can send the Gothic enthusiast on a literary path of revelations in writing. The reader being astute comprehends in depth insinuated literary technique by the unreliable narrator in "The Raven". The raven’s symbolic meaning represents an ill omen known through Apollo from the Greeks. Referencing the poem, "The Raven" in stanza eight, lines five and six Poe addresses the raven as a messenger from the Plutonian shore, a reference to the underworld. This compounds the raven as a literary symbol; as just the mention of the bird brings these ideas to writing through abstract concepts.
In this blog, I intend to write over one-hundred poetic forms of poetry from different themes and genres. This writing endeavor started with the Gothic poem genre in specificity "The Raven" written by Edgar Allan Poe almost two centuries ago. After revisiting the literary works of Edgar Allan Poe I will write my first poem inspired by this genre style. In the near future I am attending an Edgar Allan Poe literary event in theatre. I plan to write about the event in my blog for a modern theatrical component. The idea to write over one-hundred poems through formulation is exciting for me. I studied literature, poetic form, and time periods while pursuing my Bachelor's of Arts in college. All readers are welcome on this writing conception journey in my literary poetic blog Artsy Apostrophe.
This blog is written by Brandy R. Bennett
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