This volume of poems was first published in November, 1845, about four months after Poe’s Tales. The collection was initially issued separately with pink paper wraps. The Raven had appeared previously on January 29 in the Evening Mirror and became a popular sensation. It made Poe a household name almost instantly, although he was only paid $9 for its publication. Therefore, the poet released this collection to capitalise on the poem’s popularity.
The Raven is arguably Poe’s most famous work and is often noted for its musicality, stylised language and the supernatural atmosphere it evokes. It tells of a talking raven’s mysterious visit to a distraught lover, tracing the man’s slow descent into madness. The lover, often identified as being a student, is lamenting the loss of his love, Lenore. Sitting on a bust of Pallas, the raven seems to further instigate his distress with its constant repetition of the word “Nevermore”. The poem makes use of a number of folk and classical references.
Poe claimed to have written the poem very logically and methodically, intending to create a work that would appeal to both critical and popular tastes, as he explained in his 1846 follow-up essay “The Philosophy of Composition”. The poem was inspired in part by Grip, a talking raven, in Charles Dickens’ novel Barnaby Rudge. Poe also uses the complex rhythm and meter of Elizabeth Barrett’s poem Lady Geraldine’s Courtship, making use of internal rhyme as well as alliteration throughout. The Raven is now considered to be one of the most famous poems ever written.