oe. The raven condescends that Poe will never see his lostlove again when uttering forget this lost Lenore (83). Alcohol taunts Poe into ceaselessdepression and caused Poe to have a life-long problem with alcoholism, which eventuallyled to his death. In a similar manner to which the alcohol explored Poes innerdevastation, the raven delves into exploration of the narrators innermost fears that he willnever see his Lenore again. Lenore, a source for conjuring up the imaginative domain inthe persona, is a compulsion that excites the narrators mind into mundane questioning. Inthe first stanza, questioning from what direction the tapping came, he throws open thedoor, the narrators nemesis not to be found. Some other realm must be explored if he isto ascertain something about his lost love and the noise which is driving him insane. Thenarrator then opens the shutter, opening his soul to the outside world. To his surprise, hediscovers a raven, a beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door (53). Theraven directs all further action in the poem, it ridicules and patronizes the narratorthroughout the composition and its evil force permeates the air and induces suffering andanguish within the character. Emotions culminate with the attainment of a climax as thenarrator faces his confused and disordered world. The narrator, in his madness, shrieks,Get thee back into the tempest and the Nights Plutonian shore! (98).Poes calculated use of symbolism was influential in establishing the literaryreputation of The Raven. The raven is established as a symbol for the narrator'smournful and ceaseless remembrance of his lost love. The raven is of significantimportance to the melancholic theme because it is often seen as being a harbinger of death. Another obvious symbol is the bust of Pallas, the Goddess of Wisdom. This use issymbolic as it leads the narrator to believe that the raven speaks from wisdom. When Poewrites, ...distinctly I r...
