shadow, it is that single word and the thought it expresses that prolongs his hopeless mourning.

The Raven is probably one of Poe's most famous works. The word Nevermore in the poem is one that leaves the reader feeling sadness. Poe uses this word the create the tone for the whole poem. 

The whole poem is set around a man grieving for the love of Lenore. We see that he is in such despair. He tries the read to get his mind off of losing her, only to have a Raven come and talk to him. With the Raven only saying Nevermore, again and again, we see unending despair in the man. The Raven, itself, represents the despair the man feels. The man is in such sadness, that the repeating words of the Raven, echo his sadness throughout the whole poem. 

"From my book surcease of sorrow- sorrow for the lost Lenore- For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore."

The loss of his love, Lenore, is almost too much for the man to bear. The Raven, seems the reiterate that fact by saying Nevermore. Poe had such a clever way of making words come alive. He was truly a master at his craft. The Raven is just one piece of work that he shows us his mastery. 

Proceeding from the assumption that repeating something enhances both the effect and the importance of the statement, the repetition of "nevermore" reiterates the grief, despair and fatalistic hopelessness of the speaker in the poem.

I am from a school of literary criticism that doesn't concern itself much with the "intended effect" of an author. However, the mournful refrain of nevermore seems to serve both literary purposes (it is a device in the rhyme scheme) within the structure of the poem, as well as reiterate the central themes of the poem: alienation, grief, despair, hopelessness and ultimately, death.

The repetition of the word "Nevermore" is a refrain, coming in the final line of each stanza where it appears. First, the speaker asks for the raven's name, suggesting that it comes from the Underworld, and it responds, "Nevermore." Next, the speaker assumes that this is the bird's name. Third, he starts to think that the word is the one word that the bird learned from its former owner. Fourth, he pulls up a chair to consider the raven and what it might mean by "croaking 'Nevermore.'" The fifth repetition of the word comes when the narrator considers that his dead lover will never sit against the cushion of his chair ever again. Next, the raven speaks the word again when the narrator decides that, perhaps, the bird was sent to distract him from and help him forget his grief over Lenore. This implies that he was not sent by God, as the narrator wonders. Seventh, he asks if there is "balm in Gilead," ostensibly some kind of cure for his grief (as a balm in Gilead means a cure of some kind), and the raven answers, "Nevermore." Next, the speaker orders the bird to leave him forever, and the raven refuses. Finally, the speaker says that the shadow of the bird will be "lifted" from his floor "nevermore!"

Although Edgar Allen Poe does use internal rhyme and alliteration in the poem “The Raven,” the word “nevermore” is a refrain. The word is repeated eleven times in the latter stanzas of the poem. Each time the desperate lover questions the Raven, it answers “Nevermore.” The man knows what the answer will be, but he tortures himself by asking questions about his lost love and if he will ever find solace. Poe uses the refrain as a point of emphasis. He emphasizes the man’s despair, loneliness, and desolation.

You will notice in the first stanza an example of internal rhyme in the line, “While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,” The words napping and tapping rhyme within the same line instead at the end of two lines.

The line “Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before” includes an example of alliteration in which the first sound of a word is repeated in words that follow. In this case, the sound of /d/ is heard at the beginning of doubting, dreaming, dreams, dared, dreamed.