Guilt and Regret Essay Sample free essay sample

Guilt and sorrows are two emotions that have transcended clip and have invariably been used as literary subjects for infinite old ages and countless plants. Literature captures the kernel of humanity and expresses it in ways that most can non make. therefore we look to literature as a manner to associate and steer us through whatever it is we are seeking to cover with. whether it be positive or negative. In this essay I will be researching Edgar Allen Poe’s â€Å"The Raven. † to show the look of guilt and sorrow in the signifier of poesy utilizing different poetic devices to make so. I will be analysing the thought that the storyteller of the verse form is non merely showing sorrow over the loss of his â€Å"Lenore. † but besides guilt stemming from his belief that he could hold done more to salvage her. or in fact possibly even caused the decease of his beloved Lenore. Poe does a good occupation of dividing the verse form into two classs or subdivisions. so to talk. One being the hopeful thought that he can acquire Lenore back or at least see her shade and perchance accommodate with her so that he can populate on merrily. The other being the dark and dramatic tone of the verse form that takes overpowering precedency after the first few stanzas. And the manner Poe does that. evidently non holding the usage of images to help him. anytime he is speaking about Lenore or something positive. he uses positive imagination such as â€Å"the white flop of Pallas† to depict his beloved Lenore. What makes this poem more than merely a horror narrative is the manner that Poe uses his words and poetic accomplishments to thrust the reader into the narrator’s head and into his mind so that you know non merely his feelings. but his ideas excessively. It is a deep verse form on many degrees and through the remainder of this thesis I will turn out that the storyteller is responsible in some capacity for the decease of Lenore. The verse form is written in a melancholy tone from the really get downing when Poe describes the dark that he is visited by the Corvus corax as a midnight dreary. besides saying that it is during â€Å"the black December. † ( Line 7 ) He instantly starts off puting the tone of the verse form and the scene of the verse form as an unhappy and sorrowful atmosphere so the reader gets the feeling of unhappiness from the storyteller from the first line. From that line about December along with the line mentioning to â€Å"dying embers† the reader is thrust into a scene of depression and unhappiness. December is a month where all things being to disintegrate and decease. from the foliages. to the grass along with animate beings non deceasing. but flying for heater conditions. The deceasing coals is merely another manner that Poe creates the scene for the reader so that it is as if he is painting an image of what is traveling on with the storyteller. It does non take long for Poe to give the reader a sense of edginess. It is clear that besides from the first stanza that the storyteller is on border. while he reads â€Å"forgotten lore† ( line 2 ) . The storyteller is most likely partaking in some signifier of black thaumaturgy to convey back his doomed love. Lenore. Poe uses the literary devices. internal rime and initial rhyme to give the first and other stanzas a musical or rhythmic sound that aids the overall tone of unhappiness for the verse form. By giving the verse form a structured rhythmic tone. it genuinely aids the sense of the narrator’s unhappiness and fright of the state of affairs he is in. Besides. the dark musical subject of the first stanza serves as cogent evidence that the storyteller of the verse form is genuinely executing some type of black thaumaturgy. because if you look back at mankind’s remembrance of black thaumaturgy. they are about performed utilizing some type of musical ritual where people are sing-songy in the manner that they are transporting ou t the black thaumaturgy. The storyteller goes on in the following stanza to speak about how he. â€Å"sought to borrow from my books cessation of sorrow – sorrow for the lost Lenore. † This is the first clip in the verse form that he mentions what he is so sad about. which is the loss of his beloved. Lenore. Now the storyteller is seting the pieces together and he clearly is seeking to utilize the forgotten traditional knowledge. or black thaumaturgy to convey back or at least connect with his asleep love. Lenore. Poe uses peculiarly bewitching enunciation and a combination of vowel rhyme. the repeat of vowel sounds to make internal rime lt ; and initial rhyme. the repeat of a peculiar sound in the first syllable. to convey the general tone of depression and sorrow over the loss of Lenore. The repeat truly drills the point that Poe is seeking to acquire the reader to experience the sorrow and the hurting that the storyteller is experiencing about the loss of his beloved Lenore. All the words t hat he chooses have a tone of darkness and immorality. combined with his literary devices provide a really grave ambiance that the reader is thrust into. It was peculiarly obvious that the forgotten traditional knowledge is some type of black thaumaturgy that the storyteller is utilizing to convey back Lenore or merely speak with her one time once more when in the 5th stanza Poe writes. â€Å"dreaming dreams no mortal of all time dared to woolgather before. † ( Line 26 ) Due to the clip period that this was written in. 1845. black thaumaturgy would hold been non merely looked down upon the manner it is today. but most likely imprisonment or decease would be the consequence of being found guilty of practising it. Why would a adult male hazard that to talk to person who has passed off. regardless of how much he loved her? Because he feels guilt over the decease of Lenore. most likely significance that whatever she died he felt that he could hold done more to assist her. You get a sense in this stanza that he is genuinely making something that he is even afraid of making. something that he could lose is his life for. which decided ly is a stating fact that he is willing to seek anything to free himself of the guilt that he is experiencing over the loss of Lenore. Just one more assistance to the impression that he perchance had something to make with the decease. or surely could hold done more to protect his Lenore from whatever destiny she met. Once the storyteller hears the Corvus corax at his door. he believes it is Lenore who has returned from the dead to see him. When he answers the door. â€Å"the merely word at that place spoken was the whispered word. â€Å"Lenore! †Ã¢â‚¬  This clearly means that the storyteller believed in his bosom that the black thaumaturgy had worked and he Lenore was here to see him. Once the rapping starts once more. this clip at the window. the storyteller realizes it is a Raven. a bird normally associated with the underworld and the work of the Satan. Possibly the Raven. a bird from the underworld. would be conveying intelligence about Lenore. but that is non the instance. Poe chose the Raven sagely. one time once more. to convey the general tone of guilt and sorrow to the reader because when one thinks about a Corvus corax. one does non believe of a hopeful and proud bird. but instead a dark and glooming bird that brings about negative feelings and vibraphones. The storyteller short ly realizes that this Raven is non here to convey good intelligence or to relay a message of hope to him. but instead to stalk this adult male for whatever it is that he has done. or lack there of. to assist his love. Looking back on historical literature. frequently times when you read narratives. verse forms or novels about a adult male being haunted by something. it is a repeating object. individual or animate being that keeps coming back over and over once more as if to allow the character. in this instance the storyteller. know that they will and what has happened under their ticker. so to talk. Basically. the storyteller at first experiences exultation at the idea that the tapping is Lenore. or that the Corvus corax is traveling to be the bringer of intelligence from the underworld about Lenore. but rapidly realizes that the Raven is at that place to mortify and escalate the feelings of guilt that he is already sing. The storyteller associates the bird with the Hadean shore. which is an allusion to the ancient underworld. So this bird is clearly from the underworld presenting the message of the Haiti. Besides the bird’s name. harmonizing to the storyteller. and the lone word spoken by the bird. is â€Å"Nevermore. † Nevermore is a word that Poe chose carefully because it brings about a feeling of hopelessness and emptiness that other words can non capture. Soon. the storyteller realizes that this bird is presenting awful intelligence to him. depicting the Corvus corax as â€Å"grim. ungainly. ghastly and gaunt. † None of these words are hopeful. like the storyteller somewhat was when he foremost thought Lenore might be at the door. However. in the 14th stanza is where the reader genuinely sees that this adult male. the storyteller. is non merely experiencing sorrow over the loss of his beloved. but besides guilt and sorrow over the manner she died. The adult male cries out imploring to bury the sorrow and guilt he feels over Lenore. â€Å"Nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore! † ( Line ) Nepenthe is a drug described in Homer’s Odyssey that is supposed to free the individual taking it of all heartache or guilt they are experiencing over something that has happened to them in the yesteryear and they can non acquire over. A adult male who has lost a loved one and could non make anything about it does non desire to bury the memory of this individual all together. yet this adult male seems to wish that he forgets about Lenore all together. Besides. amidst the fright and confusion of the storyteller throughout his brush with the Corvus corax.he asks the bird. â€Å"is there balm in Gilead? † ( Line ) Balm is an ancient signifier of lotion that was used to comfort tegument. while Gilead is an allusion to the scriptural hill of judgement where God would judge worlds. Through Poe’s combinations of authoritative and scriptural mentions. the storyteller is showing his hurt over whether or non God will demo merely clemency or comfort when he is being judged for entry into Eden or snake pit. A adult male who has no guilt would non be awfully concerned about this. nor sound so hard-pressed about how he will be judged. Clearly his preoccupation with his judgement. and the hope that God will judge him kindly. the manner that balm is smooth and sort to one’s tegument is stating that this adult male is experiencing compunction for whatever it is that he did to do Lenore’s decease. Finally. the poem’s concluding two stanzas portray the storyteller as the most despairing he has been throughout the whole verse form. He is shouting at the bird to travel off back the Plutonian Shore and non to go forth any hint of the bird behind. Clearly the Corvus corax has struck a cord with this adult male and the adult male is get downing to feel his destiny. The guilt and sorrow over Lenore can non be overcome. which is why he was visited by this evil bird from Plutonian’s shore. Plutonian’s shore is considered to be the shore of the river that leads into Haiti. or the underworld. However. the raven neer leaves the man’s house. â€Å"still sitting on the pale flop of Pallas merely above my chamber door. † ( Line ) This adult male has clearly done some incorrect in his life. clearly associated with the decease of his loved 1. because why else would a bird from the underworld be for good with him in his house for the remainder of his yearss? T he concluding two lines read ; â€Å"And my psyche from out that shadow that lies drifting on the floor shall be lifted – Nevermore! † ( Line ) His psyche shall neer be lifted to heaven to see Lenore once more. he is doomed to a life in the underworld with the Raven. and no thirster is at that place any hope of seeing Lenore. nevermore. A word that Poe clearly uses once more and once more and once more throughout this verse form that can non be overlooked as the cardinal subject to the full verse form is Nevermore. looking 20 eight times throughout the verse form. Why did Poe take the word Nevermore as the Raven’s exclusive speech production words of the Poem. or the word that occurs the most often? It is because. like the remainder of the verse form where Poe does a fantastic occupation of utilizing different poetic techniques to acquire his message across. he utilizing his superb enunciation. pick of words. to give put the tone of the full verse form. Nevermore does non give the reader any idea of felicity. hope or joy. but instead it gives the reader a sense of neer holding those good feelings once more. The reader feels the storyteller losing trust each clip the word is used and knows that as the verse form goes on the storyteller. although he set out to happen his love Lenore and perchance happen felicity once more. will neer once more experience that joy. never again. It is as if each of the 20 eight times the word is used he is stealing farther and farther off from what he truly wants. Lenore. Until the concluding line of the Poem where Poe states. â€Å"Shall be lifted – Nevermore! † ( Line 108 ) When you think of the word lifted. you think frequently of good feelings such as upraised liquors or lifted up to heaven. so for the storyteller to accept that he will be lifted never again is stating of how dark the verse form and his liquors have gotten. and ends the verse form allowing the reader know steadfastly that no joy came to the storyteller throughout his efforts to convey back Lenore. This verse form exemplifies Poe’s eldritch ability to capture the really common human emotions of guilt and repent into literature. The reader can associate to the poem’s subjects. while being captivated by the superb usage of initial rhyme. vowel rhyme. allusion and internal rime. Clearly people have different degrees of guilt and sorrow in their lives. but no affair the size everyone still experiences at some point and Poe does a fantastic occupation of capturing these emotions. This is why this verse form has become a dateless classic. because these sorts of emotions and Poe does such a superb occupation of conveying them out. He clearly is portraying a graphic image with his words of the guilt that the storyteller feels about Lenore for the reader to indulge in.