How is imagery used in "The Raven"?

Poe uses imagery in "The Raven" to help construct a dark, foreboding atmosphere. The opening stanzas contain imagery that establish such an atmosphere. The speaker’s fire contains “dying ember[s]” that cast their “ghost[s] upon the floor,” hinting at the subject of death. Moreover, the sounds of the “rapping, rapping at the chamber door,” emphasized through an onomatopoetic repetition, create suspense.

The imagery in these early stanzas also suggest the sense of loneliness which pervades the speaker’s spirit. Consider the passage when he opens the door for his presumed human visitor, finding “Darkness there and nothing more.” At this point, he is confused and desperate. He begins to fear and "[dream] dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before." There is no explanation for the tapping which he is certain he has heard; instead, darkness surrounds him. The image of darkness—which is paradoxically also a perfect absence of imagery—conveys the speaker’s desperation. This feeling is underscored by the echo of “Lenore” he hears in the following stanza, another evocative example of auditory imagery.

After the bird enters the room, the speaker notes that it has a “grave and stern decorum” and later describes it as a "fowl [with] fiery eyes” which “burned” into him. This imagery connotes a sense of evil and even harmful intent.

Poe employs olfactory imagery when the speaker describes the “the air [growing] denser, perfumed from an unseen censer.” These pleasant scents lull the speaker into a temporary state of forgetfulness, but he soon remembers his sorrow all the more.

Overall, poe’s imagery—visual, auditory, and olfactory—contributes to a portrayal of the speaker’s grief and creates a foreboding and bleak atmosphere.

What type of imagery does the poet use in "The Raven" and what is its effect?

"The Raven" is a critically-acclaimed poem by Edgar Allen Poe. When the poem was published in 1845, it immediately became popular among the public due to its hypnotic cadence and dark but interesting imagery. The publication of "The Raven" boosted Poe's writing career—who was living in dire poverty at the time—and made him a household name.

Poe uses vivid imagery in "The Raven" that was inspired by the Gothic literary tradition, which first became popular in the 1700s. The most persistent image throughout the poem is the titular raven itself. The raven is symbolic of bad omens and the nightmares of his personal past. Much of the poem—like many poems during Poe's time—was filled with symbolism.

Symbolism itself, by its very nature, is dependent on imagery, especially in the poetic medium. The most blatant theme in "The Raven" is the feeling of guilt by the narrator. In Poe's fiction and poetry, a supernatural haunting usually symbolizes persistent psychological trauma.

The image of the narrator alone in a large, dark mansion symbolizes loneliness and, perhaps, alienation. It could also be interpreted as the narrator imprisoned in his own mind, with the mansion symbolizing his psyche or cranium.

The cliche imagery of the stormy night is effective in "The Raven" because it sets up the mood and atmosphere of the poetic narrative. Like the ebony-colored raven, the pitch black night sky and storm clouds all convey a sense of darkness.