The narrator of the poem is sad because his lost love is dead. What is her name and how does he try to escape his sorrow?

The poets beloved was called , a name meaning
light in Greek and therefore a contrast to the midnight setting of the poem and the blackness
of the Raven. He first mentions her in the second stanza, when he says that he had vainly sought
to borrow from his books surcease of sorrow for her. He had, therefore, been trying to forget
about his grief by reading but admits that such a respite would only be borrowed: he would think
of her again as soon as he closed the books.

The poet whispers Lenores name
when he first opens the door of his chamber, perhaps having expected to encounter her ghost. He
later asks the Raven whether he will ever be able to forget Lenore and then whether he will ever
be able to see her again. By this time, however, he knows that the Raven will reply Nevermore,
which suggests that he is only tormenting himself by asking the question.