my response to the edgar allen poe poem

While reading this poem, some things stood out to me, such as the idea of death and how the raven in this poem represents it. During the poem, there was a raven who suddenly shows up at the narrator's door. While the narrator was weeping about the death of his girlfriend, Lenore, he heard sudden tapping and rapping at his chamber door. He thought it may have been a visitor, but once he opened the door, there was no one there. So, he thought it may have been the spirit of Lenore. He calls out her name and gets the response of an echo. Frightened by the night and the noises he had heard, he confusingly looked out the chamber door of darkness. Eventually he heard a tapping at the window, and once the window was open, a raven appeared and sat on the narrator's chair. Confused, the narrator asked the raven, " Who are you? What is your name?" But, the raven replies to him, "Nevermore." The raven scared the narrator, because he didnt understand why he was there. This sudden appearance reflects the sudden and scary nature of death.

The narrator's lost of his girlfriend is what causes all of his troubles. Which is what lead to him asking the raven questions about Lenore. He wondered if the raven may have had some answers about her whereabouts. So, he also asks the raven, "Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn, It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore--Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore." All he cares about is getting to see Lenore again. He misses her and wants her to be okay. He also feels that he won't be able to live without her.

This poem relfects anti- Transcendentalism because if focuses on darkness in people. The narrator thought the raven, who appeared at his chamber, was actually from hell. Transcendentalist writers focused more on God and the goodness of humans. However, this poem, by Edgar Allen Poe, reflects human struggles.