Friday, September 23, 2016

At the end of the poem, what does the speaker mean when he says the Raven "still is sitting" above the door?

At the
end of the poem
href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48860/the-raven">The
Raven,
by , the speaker, in the lines:


And the Raven, never flitting,
still is sitting, still is
sitting

On the pallid bust of
Pallas
just above my chamber door;

€¦means that his
disconsolate
attitude is to be his lot to the end of his days. The speaker is
looking for any kind of hope
that maybe he can see his true love once again.
He knows this is impossible right now in this
physical life. However, he is
grasping at some, any kind, of hope because of his deep love for .
He misses
her dearly.

Upon being internally tormented because of the death
of
Lenore, and feeling the desolation brought on by Death, the speaker seeks
solace. The thoughts
of the reality of his situation (that he will not see
Lenore again in this lifetime) is embodied
in the mental image of a Raven
invading his personal home.

(of his mind)
speaks of
Nevermore. This raven is saying that nevermore will Lenore return to his
home;
nevermore will he feel truly, completely happy in this physical life;
nevermore will anguish and
some level of grief cease. There is a finality to
these pronouncements by the raven.


This horrifies the
speaker. He is searching for something positive to cling to. To his
chagrin,
this mental raven is saying, no, you must face facts. This is why the phrase still
is
sitting, still is sitting is put forth. This mental anguish will always be
there in the speakers
life.

It is significant that the
words On the pallid bust of
href="https://www.greekmythology.com/Titans/Pallas/pallas.html">Pallas

are included in The Raven.  In Greek Mythology Pallas was one of the ancient gods of
war.
Therefore, the symbolism of the raven landing and sitting, and still
sitting on this bust of
Pallas is that there will always be a war within the
speaker. This is a war between wanting
healing from his anguish, but always
fighting a war against his grief, a lifelong battle so it
seems from the
words of this famous poem.


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