Poe/Whitman

Love is something that is talked about and shown off every day of our lives. The words “I love you” are said a million times everyday in a million different languages. But what is love? There are many different types of love; there is unconditional love, which is the love you get from your parents or your family. Your family are the people that no matter what mistakes you make, they will always be there for you. Then there is the love you feel for another person, the type of love that makes your heart beat fast and your palms get sweaty. The type of love that would make you do anything for that significant other. Edgar Allen Poe and Walt Whitman are two poets who express the two in different way. In both poems “The Raven” by Poe and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" by Whitman, they begin as mournful and sad, but as they go one they end in two different ways.

In Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven,” he starts off with a man who is mourning the death of the women he loved, Lenore. When a raven perches itself on a statue in the room the man demands the raven to say its name. But the raven only replies with, “Nevermore.” He is surprised that the raven can talk, though it will not say anything else. He says that his "friend" the raven will soon fly out of his life, just as "other friends have flown before." Then raven says again "Nevermore". The narrator is convinced that a person who previously owned the bird taught it the word and that it is the only word the bird knows. Even still, the narrator pulls his chair in front of the raven, determined to learn more about it. He thinks for a bit, without saying anything, but his mind wanders back to Lenore. Then the narrator becomes angry, calling the raven a "thing of evil" and a "prophet". As he yells at the raven it only responds, "Nevermore." Finally, he asks the raven if he will be reunited with Lenore in heaven. When the raven responds again with "Nevermore", he becomes angry and commands the raven to go to the "Plutonian shore". The narrator finally comes to the conclusion that his soul is trapped beneath the raven's shadow and will be lifted "Nevermore".

The narrator feels sadness at the lost of his love, Lenore, which is basically the main theme of the poem. The narrator has a conflict between the desire to forget and desire to remember. It seems as though he enjoys focusing on the feeling of loss. The narrator assumes that the word "Nevermore" is the raven's "only stock and store", and still asks it questions, knowing the predictable answer. Because of this it seems as if he is asking questions that enhance his feelings of loss. The narrator begins as “weak and weary”, becomes grief-stricken, and, finally, falls into madness

In Walt Whitman's poem, "When Lilacs last in the Dooryard Bloom'd", he mourns the tragic death