Mood and Symbolism in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven"

The theme of Edgar Allen Poe's most famous poem, "The Raven", is mourning the death of the loved Lenore and descending into madness. 

The mood of the poem, somber and sad, is set at the beginning, informing the reader that on the late December night, while the wind is raging outside, something eerie is about to happen. When the narrator opens the window, the raven flies into the room. This bird has traditionally symbolize bad news and death. In this poem, the raven represents tormented, mourning soul of the narrator. Just like the raven flies uninvited in his room, the narrators thoughts are often clouded with the thought of Leonor and death. 

The poem utilizes repetition and words that rhyme with "Leonor" and "Nevermore" as a way to additionally describe the melancholy of the atmosphere. 

Poe uses personification, when narrator says "each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor" giving human attributes to the fire. He also compares the tapping sound of the bird to the human knock on his room's door. 

"While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, 

As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door -

" ' Tis some visitor, " I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door - "

-Constantin