Poetry Analysis on Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven Essay

Poetry Analysis on Edgar Allan Poes The Raven - Essay Example forward The Raven, none of Poes writings garnered him much recognition in the literary world. However, The Raven was hailed by critics as a civilise of genius, earning Poe a respected reputation as a serious writer (Iorillo). The work became one of the most recognizable poems of the twentieth degree centigrade, and Iorillo attributes this to Poes meticulous skill, stating that he was a deliberate, precise wordsmith.The mise en scene of The Raven is a good example of Poes precise execution of language, with his images combining to create an gentle wind that is quintessentially gothic. Iorillo states, Poe was not the foremost Gothic writer but he is undeniably one of the most potent. The frontier Gothic literature is defined as literary style popular during the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th. This style usually portrayed fantastic tales dealing with horror, despair, the grotesque and other dark subjects (Taylor).The Gothic setting of The Raven is evident from the very beginning of the poem. The poem begins to paint its setting by describing the nighttime as a midnight dreary, creating suspense, misery and dread even before the finish of the poems first line. The next image Poe presents is a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore. Poes diction heightens the mysterious and eerie setting by using the words curious and forgotten to describe the book that the storyteller is reading as the poem begins. As the narrator peruses the pages of his curious book, he hears a noise outback(a) his door, which he dismisses as an unwelcome visitor. The next stanza further enhances the poems Gothic setting as the narrator clearly recalls the bleak December night when he first encountered the raven. He tells us how he recalls the burning wood in his fireplace as each separate dying ember work its ghost upon the