Editing The Raven (section)

=== Allusions ===
[[File:Raven Manet D2.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|The raven perches on a bust of [[Athena#Pallas Athena|Pallas Athena]], a symbol of wisdom meant to imply the narrator is a scholar. Illustration by [[Édouard Manet]] for [[Stéphane Mallarmé]]'s translation, ''Le Corbeau'' (1875).]]
Poe says that the narrator is a young [[student|scholar]].<ref name=Sova208>Sova, 208</ref> Though this is not explicitly stated in the poem, it is mentioned in "[[The Philosophy of Composition]]". It is also suggested by the narrator reading books of "lore" as well as by the bust of [[Pallas Athena]], Greek goddess of wisdom.<ref name=Meyers163>Meyers, 163</ref>

He is reading in the late night hours from "many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore".<ref name="Poe, 773"/> Similar to the studies suggested in Poe's short story "[[Ligeia]]", this lore may be about the [[occult]] or [[black magic]]. This is also emphasized in the author's choice to set the poem in December, a month which is traditionally associated with the forces of darkness. The use of the raven—the "devil bird"—also suggests this.<ref>Granger, 53–54</ref> This devil image is emphasized by the narrator's belief that the raven is "from the Night's Plutonian shore", or a messenger from the afterlife, referring to [[Pluto (mythology)|Pluto]], the [[Roman god]] of the [[underworld]].<ref name=K&H194/>

Poe chose a raven as the central symbol in the story because he wanted a "non-reasoning" creature capable of speech. He decided on a raven, which he considered "equally capable of speech" as a parrot, because it matched the intended tone of the poem.<ref name="Hirsch, 195">Hirsch, 195</ref> Poe said the raven is meant to symbolize "''Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance''".<ref>Silverman, 240</ref> He was also inspired by [[Grip (raven)|Grip]], the raven in ''[[Barnaby Rudge|Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty]]'' by [[Charles Dickens]].<ref>Meyers, 162</ref> One scene in particular bears a resemblance to "The Raven": at the end of the fifth chapter of Dickens's novel, Grip makes a noise and someone says, "What was that—him tapping at the door?" The response is, {{" '}}Tis someone knocking softly at the shutter."<ref name="Staford Cremains / Ravens">{{cite web|title=Cremains / Ravens|url=http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/exlibris/1999/07/msg00399.html|website=palimpsest.stanford.edu|access-date=April 1, 2007|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080223052351/http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/exlibris/1999/07/msg00399.html |archive-date = February 23, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> Dickens's raven could speak many words and had many comic turns, including the popping of a champagne cork, but Poe emphasized the bird's more dramatic qualities. Poe had written a review of ''Barnaby Rudge'' for ''[[Graham's Magazine]]'' saying, among other things, that the raven should have served a more symbolic, prophetic purpose.<ref name="Staford Cremains / Ravens"/> The similarity did not go unnoticed: [[James Russell Lowell]] in his ''[[A Fable for Critics]]'' wrote the verse, "Here comes Poe with his raven, like ''Barnaby Rudge''{{nbsp}}/ Three-fifths of him genius and two-fifths sheer fudge."<ref>Cornelius, Kay. "Biography of Edgar Allan Poe" in ''Bloom's BioCritiques: Edgar Allan Poe'', Harold Bloom, ed. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2002. p. 20 {{ISBN|0-7910-6173-6}}</ref> The [[Free Library of Philadelphia]] has on display a taxidermied raven that is reputed to be the very one that Dickens owned and that helped inspire Poe's poem.<ref>{{cite web|title=Poe's Raven Stuffed at Free Library|url=http://www.phillymag.com/news/2011/10/31/poes-raven-stuffed-free-library/|work=Philadelphia Magazine|last=Goodtimes|first=Johnny|date=October 31, 2011|access-date=January 30, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203003057/https://www.phillymag.com/news/2011/10/31/poes-raven-stuffed-free-library/|archive-date=February 3, 2014}}</ref>

[[File:Tenniel-TheRaven.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|alt=|Rendition of "The Raven" as illustrated by [[John Tenniel]] (1858)]]
Poe may also have been drawing upon various references to ravens in [[mythology]] and [[folklore]]. In [[Norse mythology]], [[Odin]] possessed two ravens named [[Huginn and Muninn]], representing thought and memory.<ref name="Adams, 53">Adams, 53</ref> According to [[Hebrews|Hebrew]] folklore, [[Noah]] sends a white raven to check conditions while on the [[Noah's Ark|ark]].<ref name="Hirsch, 195"/> It learns that the floodwaters are beginning to dissipate, but it does not immediately return with the news. It is punished by being turned black and being forced to feed on [[carrion]] forever.<ref name="Adams, 53"/> In [[Ovid]]'s ''[[Metamorphoses]]'', a raven also begins as white before [[Apollo]] punishes it by turning it black for delivering a message of a lover's unfaithfulness. The raven's role as a messenger in Poe's poem may draw from those stories.<ref name="Adams, 53"/>

Poe mentions the [[Balm of Gilead]], a reference to the [[Book of Jeremiah]] (8:22) in the Bible: "Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?"<ref>[[s:Bible (King James)/Jeremiah#8:22|Jeremiah 8:22]]</ref> In that context, the Balm of Gilead is a [[resin]] used for medicinal purposes (suggesting, perhaps, that the narrator needs to be healed after the loss of Lenore). In 1 Kings 17:1–5 [[Elijah]] is said to be from [[Gilead]], and to have been fed by ravens during a period of drought.<ref>[[wikisource:Bible (King James)/1 Kings#17:1-5|1 Kings 17:1–5]]</ref>