Spooktacular Story 2 - The Raven
Channel: Jonathan Lurie
Date: 2023-10-03

The Raven - Edgar Allen Poe (1845)

This is a really hard poem but worth it to learn the vocabulary to enjoy how amazing it is. The speaker is thinking about his lost love Lenore, who is implied to have died. He then hears a noise outside his door and goes to investigate. A raven flies into his room and wont leave. All the raven says is, "nevermore." This makes the speaker upset.

Here are some difficult phrases:
-surcease of sorrow = the ending of his sadness
-bust of Pallas = a statue of Pallas Athena, the Greek Goddess of wisdom
-fowl = a bird
-stock and store = the speaker supposes the raven was taught how to say "nevermore" as a simple trick and is just an unintelligent animal repeating sounds.
- balm in Gilead = a rare perfume with healing powers mentioned in the Bible