Question

Other than death, grief, and madness, what themes do you notice throughout “The Raven”? Provide textual evidence to support your answer.

Answer 1

In addition to the themes of death, grief, and madness, the poem also has the theme of lost love. The speaker obviously loved Lenore intensely and is obsessed with her loss. He finds it impossible to stop thinking about her:

Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow

From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—

For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—

The speaker misses his lost love so much that he hopes for a supernatural situation that would allow him to meet Lenore in “the distant Aidenn.” Nothing seems to help him get over his grief over losing her:

By that Heaven that bends above us—by that God we both adore—

Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,

It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore—

Answer 2

Love: The narrator never forgets his dead love, Lenore.

"sorrow for the lost Lenore, For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore, Nameless here for evermore"

Supernatural: The raven talks to the narrator.

"Then the bird said, "Nevermore."

Hope this helps :)