What is the narrator's state of mind in "The Raven"?

In Poe's "The Raven," the speaker begins the poem feeling depressed and lonely, mourning the loss of Lenore. In one of the early stanzas, the speaker confesses that he is in his study reading in hopes of distracting himself from his "sorrow for the lost Lenore" (line 10). At this point, the speaker hears a sound and assumes there must be someone knocking at his door. However, it is the raven he hears.

The speaker is at first intrigued by the raven and begins questioning it. However, the raven only ever answers "Nevermore." Some readers might say the speaker is mad and is driven madder over the course of the poem, as seen by his increasingly intense exchanges with the raven. We can definitely see that the speaker becomes obsessed with the raven and thinks it can provide answers to his darkest queries. He asks, for example, whether

" . . . thy God hath lent thee—by these angels he hath sent thee

Respite—respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore;

Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!” (81-83)

What is the narrator's state of mind in "The Raven"?

Early in the poem, the narrator's state of mind is quite melancholic: he is depressed over the loss of his lover, Lenore, and this affects the way he describes everything.  It is not just midnight, it is "a midnight dreary"; similarly, it is not simply December, or even cold December, it is "the bleak December."  The embers in the fireplace are "dying," and each one "wrought its ghost upon the floor."  All of these descriptions reflect his emotional state.  Finally, he says that he has been reading these old books because he had "vainly . . . sought to borrow / From [his] books surcease of sorrow."  The narrator admits, then, the reason for his sadness and that he had been reading in order to escape it.  It seems to pervade his whole being, as grief so often does.

Soon, however, the "silken sad uncertain rustling" of the curtains "thrill" him and fill him with terror.  With his heart beating fast and adrenaline coursing through him, he goes to answer the door.  His fear gradually subsiding, he opens it to find no one there.  He is, next, filled with wonder at the darkness.  He "stood there wondering, fearing / Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before."  He seems hopeful now that it might be the spirit of Lenore returned to him.  The narrator's wonderment extends to the strange bird that flies in when he opens the window.

His state of mind changes quite a bit as the poem progresses.

What is the narrator's state of mind in "The Raven"?

The narrator’s state of mind does not remain stagnant in “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe. The first two lines of the poem, characterize him as tired and bored as he reposes reading old familiar books.

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—

He is lonely and forlorn as he misses his beloved, Lenore who has passed away. He is wishing his days away as they are filled with melancholy.

Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow

From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—

He becomes frightened by the arrival of the unknown visitor.

And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain

Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;

 After the arrival of the Raven he becomes more agitated and even aggressive as he begins to torture himself as he questions the Raven knowing full well that the raven will only answer “Nevermore.” He “shrieks” at the bird. At one point he seems to become delusional feeling angels in the room, and he questions whether the Raven is a bird or the devil. He continues in this agitated state until he loses his soul at the end of the poem.

On this home by Horror haunted—tell me truly, I implore—

Is there—is there balm in Gilead?—tell me—tell me, I implore!”

Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

What is the narrator's state of mind in "The Raven"?

Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven begins with a sense of quiet, calm melancholy. The narrator is looking through a number of "curious volumes of forgotten lore" for some words of solace to relieve his sorrow for "the lost Lenore."

"Suddenly there came a tapping," which surprises the narrator and lifts him out of his reverie. He seems excited by the prospect of having a visitor at his door who will distract him from his melancholy and relieve his sadness.

The narrator is frightened, but expectant.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before...

He opens the door, but sees nothing but darkness.

Disappointed, but still excited by the prospect of someone at the door, he turns back into the room and hears the tapping again.

This time, he goes to the window and enthusiastically flings open the shutter. In steps the raven, flapping and fluttering, and it takes its place on the bust of Pallas above the door.

His melancholy momentarily forgotten, the narrator is beguiled and amused by the raven. He smiles, and he marvels at the raven's ability to speak, even if the only word he speaks is "Nevermore."

The narrator pulls a cushioned chair in front of the door, below the raven perched on the bust of Pallas and muses about what the raven means by "Nevermore."

The narrator leans back into the violet velvet cushions on the chair, and his melancholy suddenly returns when he remembers that Lenore will never again lean into that same cushion as she did so many times before.

The narrator reacts violently to being shocked back to reality and reminded of his "lost Lenore." He shouts at the raven, ordering it out of the room and back into the night, but the raven doesn't move. It sits on the bust above the door, its "fiery eyes" burning deep into the narrator's heart and soul.

The narrator slumps back into the chair, and he falls into what Poe called in "The Philosophy of Composition," a state of "mournful and never-ending remembrance."

What is the mood in "The Raven"?

The mood in "The Raven" is dark and melancholic. The first line sets this tone:

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary . . .

A further look reveals more words used by Poe to create an atmosphere of gloom and despondency: "grim," "ghastly," "bleak," and "haunted." We're left in no doubt from the outset that the narrator's feeling pretty down. It all begins in December—a dark, cold, unpleasant month; when "each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor."

After the raven first appears, the narrator sees the bird as a source of humor. Straight away, his flagging spirits are revived:

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore.

But not for long. There's only so much fun that can be derived from looking at the bird's stern, serious face. Far from being a figure of fun, the raven's continued refrain of "Nevermore" serves to remind the narrator of his lost love and how he's never going to win her back. The mood of the poem continues to become ever more despondent as the narrator is whipped up into a state of melancholic hysteria by the raven's constant refrain.

What is the author's tone in the first stanza of "The Raven"?

The author (or speaker) appears to be suffering from acute depression. His state of mind is not helped by the fact that it is the coldest, darkest season of the year. He is feeling exhausted but apparently is unable to sleep because he is troubled by painful emotions which we later learn are all connected with the death of a loved one named Lenore. Although he is "weak and weary," he is struggling to find escape from his thoughts and feelings by burying himself in difficult reading material. (In the second stanza he says, "...vainly I had sought to borrow / From my books surcease of sorrow...") He is actually half asleep and is probably not understanding very much of what he is reading. He is so tired and so close to falling asleep that he is not certain whether he really hears the tapping or where it is coming from. He is mentally confused. He sounds as if he has been suffering from insomnia for a long time

What mood is Poe creating in "The Raven"?

Poe creates a somber melancholy mood that morphs into a deep sense of foreboding and finally transforms into terror as the poem continues. 
In the opening of the poem, Poe sets the stage which adds to the somber effect.  The time is described as "midnight dreary", giving the distinct impression of darkness.  The atmosphere is enhanced by the "bleak December" setting, hinting at a cold darkness.  The dying embers of the fire cast visions of shadows and a creeping chill about the room.  The setting of the room provides the gloomy somberness for the mood of the poem.

The mood is transformed by Poe beginning in the third stanza.  Here he repeats to himself the tapping on his door is nothing but a visitor.  The self-assurance connects with the reader's memory of fearful moments.  The mood has grown much more somber and foreboding.  The poem reaches the pinnacle of fear during the interactions with the raven.  The protagonist is driven to yelling at the bird, imploring for a name.  The crescendo of the poem is reached when he calls it a "thing of evil," "bird or fiend" and shrieks at it to leave him alone.  Poe paints a picture of a man driven mad with fear.

What is the mood or tone of Poe's "The Raven"?

The tone of a poem is the attitude the speaker takes toward the subject. In "The Raven," Poe crafts a speaker who sits alone on a bleak December evening, missing his lost Lenore. This speaker is so desperate to see Lenore again that he begins badgering a raven for answers. Even when he surmises that the word "Nevermore" is the only word the bird can utter, he continues to pelt it with statements and questions. The tone to describe the speaker's attitude toward these circumstances is desperate. He is desperate for Lenore's companionship, desperate for relief from the pain of losing her, and desperate for answers. The poem ends in a final desolate image of the speaker sitting alone in the continued presence of the bird, feeling that his soul will never rise from the shadows of emotional confinement.

The mood of a poem encompasses how a reader is intended to feel when experiencing the poem. "The Raven" establishes an eerie, ominous mood from the beginning. The poem's setting is on a cold December evening. The bird itself, a raven, is often a symbol of loss and bad luck. Poe crafts alliteration that furthers this eerie mood, such as this example.

And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain

The s sound that hisses through this line conveys a harsh reality, and the speaker adds that these sounds fill him with "fantastic terrors," the juxtaposition of those terms adding to the ominous and eerie mood. As the poem progresses, it's impossible to escape the sense of foreboding. The speaker longs for his dead love. He begs for relief from his pain. He screams that the bird is both "evil" and a "devil." And in the end, he cannot find peace, as the bird refuses to leave. This eerie ending reflects the darkness of the speaker's soul, which then leaves the reader with an unsettled sense of gloom.

What is the mood or tone of Poe's "The Raven"?

First, mood and tone aren't the same thing.  It's common that teachers lump those two items together because they do come hand in hand quite often.  Additionally, tone will often affect mood, so many readers assume that they are equivalent.  

In a nutshell, tone is more about the author or speaker of a piece, and mood is more about the reader.  Tone refers to an author's or speaker's use of words and writing style to convey his or her attitude toward a topic. Tone could be defined as how/what the author feels about their subject. What the reader feels is known as the mood.  

I'll start with tone for this poem.  When the poem starts out, I feel that the speaker's tone is a mixture of solemn, nostalgic, and perhaps even distracted.  The poem begins late at night with the speaker trying to find some way to take his mind off the lost Lenore.  He's very sad about losing his loved one, and he can't stop thinking about her. 

Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow 

    From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore— 

For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore— 

            Nameless here for evermore. 

That I scarce was sure I heard you”—here I opened wide the door;—              Darkness there and nothing more. 

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly, 

“Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I shrieked, upstarting—  “Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!      Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!      Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my door!  Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!” 

What is the mood or tone of Poe's "The Raven"?

Poe's poem "The Raven" starts with these lines:

Once upon a midnight dreary, 

while I pondered, weak and weary...

Note that the words "dreary" and "weary" introduce the mood of darkness and lethargy. Poe's diction, or word choice, serves to promote and deepen the mood as seen in the second stanza, which refers to "bleak December," "dying embers" that make "ghost" shadows on the floor, and the narrator's vain attempt to find relief from his sorrow "for the lost Lenore."

The rustling of the curtain fills the reader with "fantastic terrors never felt before." There is an incessant tapping at the door that reveals, when opened, only darkness. As the poem continues, it is apparent that this is quite simply a poem about the speaker's dead love Lenore. Even the bird in the story's title supports the mood: the raven is black (the color of death) and is an animal often associated with death. Repeated references to the presence of the raven sustains the mood Poe creates and develops throughout the poem.

The raven thus becomes “emblematical of Mournful and Never-Ending Remembrance.” 

Poe's repeated images of sadness and loss and the symbolism associated with the raven emphasize the feeling of melancholy. The poem comes full circle with the narrator's resignation to Lenore's loss, and his knowledge that his depression and misery will never leave him because he will never recover from his loss.

What is the atmosphere of "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe?

As with many of Edgar Allen Poe's works, "The Raven" depends for its effects on creating a distinct atmosphere of gloom, melancholy, and foreboding. This atmosphere is evoked in three ways, by the setting of the poem, by the narrator's feelings, and by use of language.

The setting of the poem is dark and gloomy. The time of day is midnight and the narrator is reading alone. The time of year is December, when it is cold and dark in the northern hemisphere. The narrator's fire is dying down to embers.

The narrator himself is in despair due to the death of his beloved Lenore. He commits what literary critics refer to as the "pathetic fallacy" of projecting his own despair onto external objects, seeing the raven as dark and foreboding when it is, in reality, just a bird; a more cheerful person might have found it entertaining or even cute. 

The language of the poem contributes to the melancholic and fearful mood by emphasizing words such as "nevermore,", "dreary," "weary," "dying," and "sorrow."

What is the atmosphere of "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe?

Atmosphere is the same thing as mood. Atmosphere/mood identifies the emotional feeling within the narrative. Atmosphere/mood is very different from tone since tone identifies the author's feelings about the subject matter or about the characters at hand. In "The Raven," the reader's experience is suspenseful, anticipating horror and trouble. This is because the emotional feeling within the narrative, the atmosphere, is one of quietude interrupted by trembling fear.

This is because the character hears a tapping at his door; he is alarmed; he realizes it is a visitor; he opens the door and finds nothing there, nothing but darkness: "Darkness there, and nothing more,..." His alarm turns to fear: "I stood there wondering, fearing,..." This is the atmosphere of "The Raven": trembling fear:

filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before; So that now, to still the beating of my heart ...
[...]
all my soul within me burning,...

What is the mood or tone of Poe's "The Raven"?

Many words could be used to describe the mood in Edgar Allan Poe's brilliant poem "The Raven." In a single word, it can be considered "Gothic," which you can read more about in the link below. More specifically, however, the mood is mysterious, melancholy, and even morbid.

Mystery pervades the poem from the beginning to the end. At first there is a mysterious rapping that the speaker believes is someone tapping on his door, but when he opens the door, he sees only the dark night. The rapping continues, and he realizes it is now at the window. Opening the window, he is at first pleased at the surprise visitor that flies in, and he tries to guess how it may have come to him. When he asks it what its name is, and it responds, "Nevermore," however, he becomes even more intrigued and tries to imagine its background and how it came to be able to speak such a doleful word. When it speaks again, he begins "linking fancy unto fancy" and "guessing" about the bird. The reader shares the speaker's curiosity. He then begins ruminating about his lost Lenore, and the reader wonders about that relationship. Finally, in the last stanza, rather than being solved, the mystery continues as the reader wonders whether the speaker's soul ever will "be lifted" from out of the shadow of the raven.

The melancholy mood is set up by the loneliness of the speaker and the darkness of the night. When the speaker posits that the raven will leave him like "other friends have flown before," and as his hopes have flown before, we feel his sadness and despair. It isn't long before the speaker begins obsessing over the worst of those losses, namely his "lost Lenore." The very sound of those words together creates a moan that we can feel in the depths of our being. He longs for "respite and nepenthe," a potion that could make him forget his sorrow. The raven's consistent reply of "Nevermore" is itself a very melancholy word and concept, suggesting that whatever happiness may have once brightened the world will never be felt again. Finally, the final stanza creates a powerful image of melancholia, the term that in Poe's day was used for depression. The speaker's soul abiding forever, trapped beneath the shadow of "Nevermore," is a sad picture indeed.

The morbid tone of the poem comes from the speaker's focus on death, specifically Lenore's, but also his own and death in general. The word "Plutonian" speaks of Pluto, the ruler of the domain of the dead. Other words that refer to the afterlife are Aidenn, angels, and nepenthe. According to mythology, nepenthe was a drink offered to the dead as they crossed the river Styx into Hades so that they would forget their lives on Earth. In the fifth stanza, the speaker is so immersed mentally in thoughts of death that he believes the tapping at his door and window could be the ghost of Lenore; that is why he whispers her name. 

The mysterious, melancholy, and even morbid mood of this poem have been haunting reader's since it was penned by the literary genius Edgar Allan Poe.

In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven," what is the emotion of the narrator?

The narrator's emotions undergo quite a profound change over the course of the poem. At first, he's weary and depressed, still moping over his lost love, Lenore. Then, when he hears knocking at the door, he starts getting frightened, his fraught emotional state characterized by "wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming." The narrator was already a bag of nerves to begin with, but now he's on the brink of a full-on nervous breakdown.

The arrival of the raven adds yet more turbulent emotions to the mix. When he hears the strange bird say, "Nevermore!" the narrator is suitably impressed. Shock has turned to awe and the narrator can only marvel at this wondrous creature. In turn, this causes him to reflect on what the raven might mean by "Nevermore!" He tries to find out by getting it straight from the horse's mouth, or, in this case, the raven's beak. But the raven's not telling, which makes the narrator increasingly frustrated and angry as he tries in vain to figure out what the bird's repetitive cry could possibly mean.

In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven," what is the emotion of the narrator?

The dominant mood of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven" is melancholic. Stylistically, this mood is created by the unusual metrical pattern of stanzas consisting of five lines of trochaic octameter, followed by a refrain of catalectic trochaic tetrameter.

Th narrator creates mood by literary devices known as the "pathetic fallacy" and "naturalistic fallacy", attributing human attributes and his own moods to inanimate or external objects. The midnight is described as "dreary", December "bleak", the curtains as rustling sadly, and the fire consisting of "dying" embers.

The narrator describes himself as feeling "sorrow for the lost Lenore". The Raven introduces an element of horror, intensifying the sadness of the narrator and his obsessive recall of his dead love. Every element of the poem is one of intense sadness and mourning, with the added sense that the narrator is trapped in his despair and will be able to escape it "nevermore."

What is the mood or tone of Poe's "The Raven"?

The power of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" hinges on its masterful use of Gothic motifs. Gothic literature is spooky or fear-inducing literature that contains elements of the supernatural. Many of Poe's works, including this poem, draw heavily on Gothic tradition. In this poem, the pervasive mood of doubt and fear springs from Poe's use of the Gothic motif.

At the beginning of the poem, Poe creates a Gothic setting. It is the classic dark and cold, if not stormy, night. A lonely man mourning the death of his beloved sits poring over "quaint and curious volume[s] of forgotten lore." The firelight casts its "ghost upon the floor." The speaker hears a strange tapping noise outside. These are all tropes that we recognize as a formula for the scary movie or story. They set the stage for the mood of fearful doubt that infuses the poem.

Specific descriptions and lines that create doubt and fear include the following:

• "silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain"
• "filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before"
• "long I stood there wondering, fearing, / Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before"
• "Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore"
• "I betook myself to linking / Fancy unto fancy"
• "methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer"

The imagery of the rustling curtains and the unexplained scent continues the Gothic motif, as does the appearance of the raven—a dark, mysterious bird.

The conversation that the man has with the raven allows him to voice his doubts and fears. He asks whether there is "balm in Gilead"—that is, comfort for him—and whether he will see his beloved in the next life. The raven answers, "Nevermore!" The man has already questioned how the raven came to him and how it came to know but one word. Although he arrived at a perfectly reasonable explanation, his doubts and fears overwhelm him, and he starts to believe the raven has supernatural import—whether it is sent by God or the devil. In the last stanza, the man succumbs fully to his fear and doubt, the "shadow that lies floating on the floor" from which his soul will be lifted "nevermore."

This final image makes use of the Gothic motif of the tragic ending—in this case, insanity—while maintaining the mood of doubt and fear.

What is the mood or tone of Poe's "The Raven"?

In “The Raven,” Edgar Allan Poe uses motif to create the mood of melancholy and longing. A motif is a repetitious idea, sound, or image in a piece of literature. Poe repeats the sounds in the words “nothing more,” “evermore,” and “nevermore” at the end of stanzas. The sound of these words mimic “Lenore," the name of the young man’s deceased girlfriend. At the beginning of the poem he is trying to determine who is at his door, and in his sadness he hopes that it is his beloved Lenore, but he looks into the hall and finds nothing. Later in the poem the raven flies in and perches on the bust of Pallas.

The young man tortures himself questioning the raven. The raven was trained by his unknown owner to say “Nevermore.” Even when the young man asks if there will be relief in the end, he receives the same answer.

"Is there—is there balm in Gilead?—tell me—tell me, I implore!" Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

Each repetition from the beginning to the end of the poem leads the young man deeper and deep into his sadness.

What is the mood or tone of Poe's "The Raven"?

The mood of a poem is the feeling that the text generates in readers through the use of literary devices and structure. The mood of "The Raven" can be characterized as eerie and bleak.

The context of the poem itself contributes to the mood of this poem. The speaker sits alone in his chamber, from the opening lines describing himself as "weak and weary." His beloved Lenore has died, and he longs for her presence. To make matters worse, a raven arrives and reminds the speaker of his eternal loss.

Poe crafts the poem so that the sounds appropriately represent the speaker's feelings of bafflement and anguish. For example, consider the heavy alliteration in the following lines:

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,

Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;

This sonic repetition conveys the obsessiveness and irrationality of the speaker's mind, contributing to the overall mood.

Poe also produces mood through setting. It is a cold December evening at midnight. The speaker is completely alone, and his room feels "dreary." The fire is composed of "dying ember[s]." All of these details establish the grim mood in the first two stanzas. Finally, Poe's repetition of "Nevermore" in the final eleven stanzas creates a kind of eerie refrain, further underscoring the bleak mood that pervades the poem.

What is the mood in "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe?

The word that best describes the mood in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" is "uncanniness." The word "uncanniness" describes a feeling of fear combined with wonder aroused by something potentially dangerous that has never been experienced before: mysterious; arousing superstitious fear or dread."

The speaker doesn't know what to make of this black bird that pecks for admittance to his lonely chamber and then makes itself at home by perching on top of a bust of Pallas Athene (Greek goddess of wisdom) above his chamber door. He doesn't know whether to be frightened or amused. He doesn't know whether the bird is an evil spirit or just a pet that escaped from its owner's home and is seeking shelter from the storm in another human domicile.

The bird keeps repeating the single word "Nevermore," but the speaker doesn't know whether the bird understands what it is saying or simply learned that one word from its "unhappy master." The dictionary definition of the adjective "Uncanny" is "Exciting wonder and fear; inexplicable." The fact that this bird can speak at all makes it all the more uncanny.

The speaker is left in deep despair. The reader is left wondering whether the bird was a supernatural messenger from the world of the dead or just an ordinary raven caught by some human and taught to say a single word. The mystery is like the mystery of life itself. Is there life after death? Is there any possible hope in the promises made in the Bible? The speaker asks the bird that question, half hoping for an answer.

Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,

It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore--

Evidently the bird doesn't know the answers any more than the speaker but it merely represents the mystery itself.

Describe the development of the poet's mood in the course of the poem "The Raven" by the poet Edgar Allan Poe.

In the first stanzas of the poem, the narrator is tired, unable to find rest in sleep because of his constant "sorrow for the lost Lenore."

Upon hearing the noise, he is, at first, uncertain that he is actually hearing something. Upon deciding that there really is "a tapping" at the door, he is excited in anticipation of a visitor and apologetic that he did not answer it more quickly.

Finding nothing when he opens the door, he is left "wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming." Trying to find some explanation, wanting to believe it is somehow a message from Lenore, he responds to the renewed "tapping" with determination to locate the source of the noise. To his amazement and initial amusement, he discovers the source of the noise is a raven who not only knocks at the door but can speak.

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
"Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store,...
But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling,

The narrator is perplexed but still at ease as he begins to consider what meaning there might be in the raven's one word. As he thinks further, however, puzzlement changes to pleading as the narrator comes to see the raven as a "Prophet" capable of bringing him some release from grief and reassurance that he will be reunited with Lenore at some point in the future.

With the repeated "Nevermore" as his only response from the raven, the narrator becomes frantic, ordering the raven to

Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken!- quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!

In the final stanza, the narrator is resigned and defeated, enduring the continued presence of the raven and his dreadful message that there will be relief of his grief "Nevermore!"

How does the author create a mood in the opening stanza of "The Raven"?

The mood created at the beginning of "The Raven" is one of mystery and sadness with undertones of horror. Poe accomplishes this through the Gothic setting, characterization, and poetic sound devices. The poem tells a story, and this stanza serves as the exposition and inciting incident, enticing the reader in.

Poe creates a Gothic setting through descriptions such as "midnight dreary," "quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore," and "chamber door." The mysterious sounds and the mental state of the narrator add to the vaguely scary feeling of the scene.

The characterization of the narrator creates a mood of mystery and sadness. Readers wonder why he is sitting up late alone at night and what he might be pondering. He is obviously tired, but he won't go to bed. This suggests he is deeply troubled. He is "weak and weary," and he mutters to himself at the unexpected noises. Many people will relate to hearing unusual noises when they are up late at night alone. The "tapping" and "rapping" noises he hears are quiet, adding to the subdued tone of mystery.

Poe develops the setting and characterization while using multiple poetic sound devices that cause the feelings of sadness, mystery, and horror to build. First, the predominant rhythm is trochaic--a two-beat measure with the stress on the first syllable: DAH-duh, DAH-duh, DAH-duh, DAH-duh. This is a trudging, somber, even funereal rhythm that weighs down the entire poem, reinforcing its feelings of sadness and depression. The onomatopoeia of the words "rapping" and "tapping" creates mystery and allows readers to imagine the sounds. The assonance of the repeated long /o/ sound in words like "over," "lore,"  "door," "only," and "more" creates a plaintive moaning sound that further enhances the sadness, mystery, and fear.

Poe, a master storyteller and brilliant poet, sets the mood of sadness, mystery, and fear from the beginning of "The Raven" by his use of a Gothic setting, characterization, and poetic sound devices.

How does the author create a mood in the opening stanza of "The Raven"?

Let us remember that a variety of techniques can be used to create mood, and these include rhyme, rhythm, diction and sound effects in poetry. If we examine the first stanza of this famous poem, we can see that in a sense, Poe uses all four of these elements to build a dark, ominous and threatening mood that is sustained throughout the poem.

Note how the words "midnight dreary" and "forgotten lore" are used to create an almost supernatural setting as we picture the student working hard on this "dreary" night in darkness, wading through books of forbidden knowledge. The onomatopoiea in words such as "rapping" greatly add to the suspense and fear, as we are startled into thinking who it is that could be knocking on the door at this time of night.

In addition, note the internal rhyme that is present, with "rapping" rhymed with various other words in the stanza. The regular rhythm of the poem which seems to be relentless in the way that it continues on and drives the stanza towards its conclusion helps sustain this tone through its power. The tone therefore is created through the impact of diction, rhyme, rhythm and other sound effects that give this opening stanza a chilly and supernatural tone.

How does the author create a mood in the opening stanza of "The Raven"?

“The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe creates an ominous atmosphere for this eerie tale of the ebony bird who visits the narrator.  The narrator has recently lost his love—Lenore. He is  in a dark place in his grief. 

The author uses alliteration, rhyming, and repetition to accentuate the mood of the poem.  The setting of the candle-lit chamber and the grief stricken speaker prepare the reader to be frighten as the man receives into his room the black bird.

1st stanza

The time is midnight. The speaker sits feeling weak and tired. He has been reading old books.  He is almost asleep when he hears a tapping at his bedroom door. He thinks that it must be a visitor.

The author establishes the ominous mood by using the midnight hour.  When the knock at the door occurs, who would be there so late at night. The man himself is apparently frail possibly due to his recent loss. He also talks to himself which questions his mental stability.

2nd stanza

The season is wintery December.  The fire creates an eerie appearance throwing shadows on the floor. The man wishes that it was already the morning. He has been reading the books to avoid thinking about the his lover, Lenore. He describes her as unusual and beautiful.  The reader learns about her death since the angels have taken her.

This is a flashback which lets the reader know night is in the past.  The ghostly embers of the fire create a weird look. The man is upset and wishes it were morning. Already sad and lonely, everything looks worse at night time. The poet uses the words sorrow, dying, bleak, surcease:  all words that relate to death and despair.

3rd stanza

A breeze makes the window curtains rustle and move.  This scares and terrorizes him. He can feel his heart beating within his chest.  He begins to repeat:

“Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door---

Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;--

                                   This it is, and nothing more!”

The alliteration in the first line of the stanza establishes fear: silken sad uncertain rustling…” The curtains are moving, but he does not know how. He is already so scared that anything that happens pushes him more toward hysteria.

4th stanza

Soon, the narrator finds a little more courage; without hesitation, he says to the door that he is sorry for the wait because he was napping.  Then, he opens the door: Nothing--but darkness.

The terror that the speaker feels is so deep that it infiltrates his soul, already vulnerable from his grief.   The author uses the word “darkness” outside the door. That in itself is scary.  Still, he has no answer to his question of the tapping at the door.

5th stanza

The man peers out into the hall and stands there thinking--afraid…first, he doubts that he heard anything at all—then, he begins to imagine terrible things that no human should ever think.

There is no sound, and the darkness yields nothing at all. He whispers out into the darkness: Lenore.  An echo comes back to him: Lenore. 

The alliteration in this section adds to the fear of the man.  Poe uses the “d” sound: deep, darkness, doubting, dreaming, dreams, dared, dream, darkness.  This repetition adds to the dismal atmosphere of the room and the opening of the door with nothing there.   Although the man knows that Lenore is dead, he whispers her name. This indicates that he is willing to accept her returning as a ghost.

Which two adjectives describe the speaker's mood at the start of "The Raven"?

Two other adjectives which seem pertinent to the mood of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" include the words "weary" and "lost."

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary...

The narrator is both tired and weak from his long, sleepless nights following the death of his deceased loved one. He spends the nights reading instead, trying to relieve his mind of his constant sorrow.

From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore.

The word "lost" has a double meaning here. Lenore has died, and the loss of her is overwhelming to him. Additionally, the narrator is now lost himself: He does not know what to do with himself without his loving companion.

Which two adjectives describe the speaker's mood at the start of "The Raven"?

The mood of the speaker in Edgar Allen Poe's poem "The Raven" is one of weariness and bereavement. The whole room is described to resemble an undertaker's parlor, with colors of black, grey and purple - although the funishings and soft furnishings are flush. There are drapes, cushions, a sofa and latticed windows. It is possible that the weakness the poet describes is symptomatic of a person feeling too bereft to eat, sleep or exercise properly. In other words, their helath is failing. It is also possible that the visions of the talking raven are brought on by lack of sleep, or the drowsiness of deep sorrow, where the dream world blurs with reality. The door can then be seen as a portal into another world.

Which two adjectives describe the speaker's mood at the start of "The Raven"?

He uses two adjectives in the first couple of verses to describe the day or the time: dreary and bleak. I think these each reflect his mood as well because they demonstrate his weariness and hopelessness he seems to be feeling.

In the very first line, the two adjectives he uses to describe himself are weak and weary. The poem seems to demonstrate that he has been mourning the loss of a woman named "Lenore". Sometimes grief can truly exhaust a person. Thus, it would completely fit the descriptors of weak and weary.

How does the time setting affect the mood in Poe's "The Raven"?

The time setting for this poem is obviously very important, as the poem's first line attempts to create a context and environment for the story. "Once upon a midnight dreary" tells the reader is it very late at night, and that the weather is dreary. The speaker is pondering "weak and weary" (reading and studying amid a number of books, "many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore" which implies books of history or folklore perhaps). The speaker is tired, perhaps ill, and feeling weak, which gives an impression of vulnerability. Coupled with the extremely late hour, the vulnerable physical and mental state of the protagonist gives the poem a particularly uneasy imagery. The raven's appearance in the middle of the night seems even more likely to be a harbinger of doom, than if it had arrived in the daytime.

Midnight is traditionally known as "the witching hour" or a time when hauntings and supernatural happenings are more likely to occur. Since the narrator is reading books referred to as "quaint," "curious," and "forgotten lore," this suggests he is already open to occult and supernatural topics. His emotional state is also fragile because he is mourning his dead lover Lenore. The season and weather also add to the eerie atmosphere: "Ah, distinctly I remember/ it was in the bleak December/ and each separate dying ember/ wrought its ghost upon the floor." The fire is dying, making the room grow slowly darker, and the winter weather suggests howling winds outside, also creating a frightening atmosphere. These rich details of time, season, weather and situation all combine to give the poem an unsettling mood associated with the horror genre.

How does the setting impact the mood in "The Raven"?

Let's start by getting the overall mood of the poem before taking on how the setting contributes to that. Mood refers to the feelings that a text gives readers as they read a particular piece of literature. The mood of this particular piece could be described as morbid, mysterious, ominous, fearful, and/or melancholy. Over the course of the poem, readers realize that the narrator is thinking about the death of Lenore while at home alone with a creepy raven that he believes is talking to him. That is an overly simplistic overview of the poem, but it's sufficient to convey the intended mood.

Poe conveys the mood of the poem in a variety of ways, but the question specifies setting. The first line gives readers an initial time setting. The narrator tells us that he is reading at midnight. This detail helps set a scarier mood because people innately know that creepy and bad things happen at night. Humans have a natural fear of darkness, and placing the poem at midnight means that there is no chance for a friendly face dropping by with good news for tea time. The late hour is further highlighted by a knocking at the door. Readers are meant to immediately question, "Who on Earth would be visiting at midnight?"

The second stanza continues to give readers reasons to feel scared. The season is winter, which could be pleasant; however, Poe tells readers that it is "dreary." Furthermore, the man is wishing it was already morning. This tells readers that he is not currently in a happy and cheerful mood, so readers assume the opposite. Finally, the fourth and fifth stanzas enhances the dark creepiness of the setting by having the narrator open the door. He is greeted with nothing but complete darkness and silence.

That I scarce was sure I heard you”—here I opened wide the door;—

Darkness there and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,

Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;

But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,

What is the mood of stanza 9 in "The Raven"?

When we refer to mood we are thinking of the overall emotion produced by a work of literature. The mood of a text can normally be described by one or two adjectives, such as "bittersweet" or "comic," and so it is important to read the text you are studying and try to work out what mood the author is trying to create.

In the ninth stanza of "The Raven," it appears that the predominant mood is one of confused wonder. The stanza begins by the speaker reporting how he "marvelled" at the raven and the way that it could pronounce the word "Nevermore" so plainly. He muses on the fact that no other human will have had the same experience of a raven sitting on the bust above his chamber door with the name of "Nevermore":

For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being

Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door--

Thus it is that the mood of this stanza alone seems to be one of wonder and confusion as the speaker tries to work out what this strange apparition and its speech might mean for him.