Poe's People
The "highborn kinsmen" take this character away from the speaker to shut her up in a sepulchre.
Who is Annabel Lee?
In "A Dream Within a Dream," the "grains of golden sand" serve as a metaphor for this fleeting concept.
What is time (or memories)?
This is the only word the bird says throughout the entire poem.
What is "Nevermore"?
The setting of this poem is described as a kingdom by this location.
What is the sea?
This bird in Poe's work is a primary symbol for death or a mournful, never-ending remembrance.
What is the Raven?
This character is the subject of the speaker’s grief in "The Raven," often associated with the lost hope of a "distant Aidenn."
Who is Lenore?
The line "And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling" is a famous example of this device, used to create a haunting mood.
What is alliteration?
The Raven perches upon a bust of this goddess, representing the speaker's lost logic.
Who is Pallas Athena?
This is the age category of both the speaker and Annabel Lee when they fell in love.
What is "children"?
Poe often uses this type of setting—dark, desolate, or decaying—to establish a Gothic atmosphere.
What is a Gothic setting?
In "Annabel Lee," the speaker claims these heavenly beings were so jealous of their love that they caused a chilling wind.
Who are the Seraphs (Angels)?
Poe uses the bust of Pallas as this device—a reference to a Greek goddess meant to show the bird is perching on "wisdom."
What is an allusion?
The speaker asks the bird if there is "balm in" this biblical location, seeking a cure for his suffering.
What is Gilead?
The speaker says he spends his nights lying down by the side of his darling in this type of tomb.
What is a sepulchre?
The "pitiless wave" in "A Dream Within a Dream" symbolizes the unstoppable force of this.
What is time (or nature’s indifference)?
The speaker in "The Raven" shifts his tone toward the bird from curious to this state of mind.
What is hysterical/mad?
"My days have been a dream" is an example of this figure of speech, comparing life to an illusion.
What is a metaphor?
At the end of the poem, the speaker declares that his soul shall be lifted from this thing "nevermore."
What is the Raven’s shadow?
The primary theme of this poem is that true love is stronger than this "final" event.
What is death?
In "The Raven," the "Night’s Plutonian Shore" is an allusion to this mythological place.
In "The Raven," the "Night’s Plutonian Shore" is an allusion to this mythological place.
According to the speaker of "Annabel Lee," neither the angels in heaven nor these beings under the sea can "dissever" his soul from hers.
Who are the demons?
Poe creates a "musical" quality in his poems by using rhythmic meter and this technique of repeating words or phrases.
What is obsessive repetition?
This specific color of the curtains is described as "rustling" to add to the speaker’s anxiety.
What is purple?
The speaker says he sees the "bright eyes" of Annabel Lee whenever these celestial objects rise.
What are the stars?
Poe uses the "sounding sea" as a repeated symbol to create a mood of this feeling.
What is loneliness (or melancholy/eternal grief)?