“The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe
Stanza 1
1. At what time does the poem begin? Why might this be significant?
2. What is the speaker currently doing when he hears a tapping on his chamber door?
3. Whom does he think is rapping on his chamber door?
Stanza 2
4. At what time of year does the poem occur? How might this be symbolic?
5. Why has the speaker been feeling great sorrow?
6. Who is Lenore? What might the line, “Nameless here forevermore,” mean?
Stanza 3
7. Give an example of consonance from lines 13-14.
8. What effect does the rustling of the curtains have on the narrator? What does he continue to tell himself about
the person knocking on his door?
Stanza 4
9. Find 2 examples of onomatopoeia in stanza 4.
10. When the narrator opens the door, what is there? How does this affect the mood or atmosphere of the poem?
Stanza 5
11. The narrator states he stood gazing into the darkness “dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream
before.” What do you think these dreams are about? Why?
12. What word does the narrator whisper and hears echoed back to him?
Stanza 6
13. Upon turning back to his chamber, what does the narrator hear again? To what does he attribute the sound this
time?
Stanza 7
14. Find an example of alliteration in line 37.
15. How does the Raven behave when it enters the room?
16. The narrator says that the Raven perches upon a bust of Pallas. Who is Pallas, and why might this be significant?
Stanza 8
17. The narrator thinks the Raven has wondered in from “the Night’s Plutonian shore.” What does this mean?
Where might the Raven be from?
18. What question does the narrator ask the Raven? What is the Raven’s answer?
Stanza 9
19. What is the narrator experiencing that “no living human being” has experienced before?
Stanza 10
20. In lines 58-59, what does the narrator state that the Raven will eventually do? What is the Raven’s response?
Stanza 11
21. The narrator thinks that the Raven’s previous owner taught the bird the word “nevermore.” What type of life
does the narrator imagine the bird’s previous owner had?
Stanza 12
22. What does the narrator start to ponder in this stanza?
Stanza 13
23. How is the bird described differently in this stanza? How does this affect the mood of the poem?
24. Who does the narrator begin thinking about again toward the end of the stanza?
Stanza 14
25. Who does the narrator think has sent the Raven to him and for what reason? (Hint: What is nepenthe?)
Stanza 15
26. When the narrator asks the Raven, “Is there balm in Gilead?” what is he really asking? Why does the Raven’s
answer enrage the narrator?
Stanza 16
27. What important question does the narrator ask the Raven about his future with Lenore?
28. Why does the Raven’s answer of “nevermore” enrage the narrator further?
Stanza 17
29. When the narrator tells the Raven to “Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from my door,” the
Raven answers again, “Nevermore.” What do you think is the symbolic meaning of this exchange?
Stanza 18
30. Based on the last stanza of the poem, make a prediction regarding the narrator’s future. Support this prediction
with one quote from stanza 17.