Summary
Summary of The Raven
Key ideas
Key idea 1
A strange visitor interrupts the night
A man sits alone in his room at midnight in December when a strange visitor comes to his window. This is the scene at the heart of Edgar Allan Poe's narrative poem, The Raven. The encounter brings the speaker's state of mind and the questions he asks into focus.
Published in January 1845, the poem made Poe's name known across the United States. Its story unfolds through the visitor's arrival and the sound and shape of the verse.
Key idea 2
Grief fills the quiet room
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Key idea 3
The raven brings a puzzling word
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Key idea 4
His questions deepen his pain
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Key idea 5
Sound and setting surround his grief
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Key idea 6
Sorrow turns sound into a verdict
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The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
Read the rest freeWho it’s for
For readers who love dark moods, sound and rhythm, and anyone who wants to understand the poem before hearing it.
What this book is
The Raven is a narrative poem by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in January 1845. It runs to eighteen stanzas and can be read aloud in about seven minutes. It tells of one man alone in his room on a December midnight, and of the strange visitor who comes to his window. The poem made Poe's name known across the United States, and it is still the work most people think of first when they hear it.
In this summary you get the scene, the speaker's state of mind, the questions he asks, and the way Poe builds the sound and shape of the poem. Let us begin with the room, the hour and the grief that fills them.
In this summary
- 1A lonely midnight and an old griefFree
- 2A strange visitor takes its perch
- 3Questions that wound the one who asks
- 4How the poem works and what it means
Key point 1 of 4
A lonely midnight and an old grief
The poem opens on a bleak December night. The speaker sits in his chamber, tired and half asleep over old books of forgotten lore. The fire is dying, and each ember throws a ghost of itself on the floor. He has been trying to read his way out of sorrow, but it does not work.
He is mourning a woman named Lenore, whom he calls rare and radiant and whom the angels now hold. Her loss is the root of everything that follows. Poe tells us little about her beyond her name and the fact that she is gone, and that is enough. She is the empty place in the room.
Then comes a soft tapping at the chamber door. The speaker tells himself it is only a visitor and nothing more. The silken rustle of the purple curtains fills him with fears he has never felt before. He stands at the edge of dread, and he tries to calm his heart by repeating his small, sensible explanation.
That’s 1 of 4 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Check yourself
What lies at the root of the speaker's sorrow?
Right. “Her loss is the root of everything that follows.”Not quite. “Her loss is the root of everything that follows.”
Why do the speaker's repeated questions deepen his suffering?
Right. “The speaker knows what the bird will say, yet he keeps asking, as if he wants to be hurt.”Not quite. “The speaker knows what the bird will say, yet he keeps asking, as if he wants to be hurt.”
What does the raven above the bust suggest?
Right. “The bust suggests reason and learning, and the black bird on top of it suggests that the speaker's reason is under siege.”Not quite. “The bust suggests reason and learning, and the black bird on top of it suggests that the speaker's reason is under siege.”
Who’s who
- The speaker
- A grieving scholar alone in his chamber, he mourns Lenore and questions the mysterious bird visiting him.
- Lenore
- The absent woman whom the speaker mourns, she remains the central subject of his sorrow and questions.
- The Raven
- A black bird visiting the speaker's chamber, it repeats one word that he invests with troubling meaning.
- The bust of Pallas
- A statue representing the goddess of wisdom, it stands above the speaker's door and provides the bird's perch.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 7,400 words
- Reading timeAbout 30 min
- Listening time50 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary; paperback, hardcover and large print at cost
- LanguagesEnglish and 13 other languages
Questions about The Raven
What is The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe about?
It is about a grieving man who is visited at midnight by a raven that answers all his questions with one word. The poem follows his sorrow over a lost woman named Lenore and how that sorrow deepens.
Who is Lenore in The Raven?
Lenore is the woman the speaker mourns. She is never seen and nothing is told about her except that she is gone. Her absence is the cause of the speaker's grief and the focus of his questions.
What does the raven symbolize in the poem?
Readers read the raven as a sign of death, loss and grief that will not end. Others see it as a voice from the speaker's own mind. Poe leaves the question open, so both readings stay possible.
When was The Raven written and is it a true story?
It was first published in January 1845. It is a work of fiction, not a true story. Poe also wrote an essay describing how he planned the poem, though scholars debate how fully he followed it.
Is The Raven hard to read?
The rhythm and the refrain make it easy to follow, especially when read aloud. Most readers grasp the story on a first reading.
