Home > The Raven Summary & Study Guide > The Raven Group > Question and Answer

Question:

Answers:

1. 
   linda-allen Teacher
   High School - 10th Grade

   eNotes Editor

   Here is the stanza you're asking about:

   Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into
             smiling,
   By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance
             it wore,
   “Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,” I
             said, “art sure no craven,
   Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from
             the Nightly shore—
   Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s
             Plutonian shore!”
        Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

   Here are a few of the devices Poe uses in this stanza:

   alliteration: shorn and shaven, Ghastly and grim. There are a few more for you to find.

   allusion: Plutonian refers to Pluto, the Roman god of the underworld

   personification: ravens can't talk, but Poe's raven does

   rhyme: Poe uses not only end of line rhyme but also internal rhyme, meaning that words in the same line rhyme. I'll let you find those for yourself.

   Hope this helps!

    

    

   
    

   Sources:

   http://www.enotes.com/literary-terms/

   http://www.enotes.com/literary-terms/device

   Rate answer:

   • Flag as inappropriate

   Posted by linda-allen on Saturday March 8, 2008 at 8:12 AM