Is there symbolism in Edgar Allen Poes The Raven?
As you can tell from other answers, the Raven is indeed loaded with symbolism. However, if you really want to understand what went into the poem, you need to understand how it was written. Poe wrote the poem “backwards”. In other words, he wrote the last stanza first, and the first stanza last. He indicated that he knew how it wanted to the poem to end, but wasn’t sure how to get there, so he simply started from the end and worked forward. He inserted symbolism that was more readily apparent to a classically educated person of his era; “Pallas” referes to Pallas Athena, which would have been a common figure in a library of the time, plus, as previously noted, a stark contrast to the ebon raven who decided to perch atop “wisdom” and repeat “nevermore”…as if providing a voice to wisdom and a constant reminder that his lost love (who was really his cousin) would be gone forever and that he’d see her nevermore. The other symbols in the poem were not meant to be obscure to a 19th century
