“Nevermore” is the name of "The Raven" in the narrative poem by American author Edgar Allan Poe. As the poem progresses “Nevermore”, the only thing “The Raven” ever says, becomes more.
Lenore likely was Poe’s recently deceased wife Virginia, who had died of tuberculosis. They married when she was 13 and Poe’s love for Virginia was deep. She wasn’t the first love he had lost: his mother, brother, and foster mother had all died of the same disease.
The mysterious visit from a dark devil bird, “The Raven”, symbolizes the narrators never-ending sorrow and grief for the loss of Lenore as well as his slow fall into madness. He soon realizes that the raven has come and speaks to him, only because of his love for Lenore.
Now the narrator is incensed and tells the bird to leave, but the bird just replies "Nevermore”. The meaning of the word has gone from an odd name for the raven, for simple replies, to a prophetic warning that he will never again see Lenore, nor will he ever, ever get rid of the bird.
Edgar Allan Poe’s book, published in 1845, begins with the poem, "The Raven", the single most famous American poem of the nineteenth century. The book also contained the poem Annabel Lee and many of the poems Poe had written. It didn’t make him much money but it established his reputation as a poet and author.
Quotes See Opening Verses of Poem Below
“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.”
“Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore.”
“Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore...”
“Leave my loneliness unbroken”
