Literary Analysis: “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe During the American literary movement known as Transcendentalism, many Americans began to delve into their writings on positive aspects of religion and philosophy. However, a group of people, known as the Dark Romantics, moved away from the positive beliefs of Transcendentalism and emphasized their writings on guilt and sin. The best known of these writers is Edgar Allan Poe. Poe was a dark romantic writer during this era, renowned for his short stories and poems about misery and the macabre. His most famous poem is “The Raven,” which follows a man grieving over his lost love, Lenore. In this poem, through the use of tone change and the progression of the narrator's state of mind, Poe explores the idea that those who cry will fall. Poe uses a gradual change in diction as the poem progresses. Initially, he begins the poem with melancholy diction as the narrator falls asleep: "while I thought, weak and tired", "nodded, almost napping" and "of someone who knocked gently » (1-4). The use of alliteration in these lines provides a song-like rhythm, calming for the reader. This use of diction sets a gentle tone. Later in the poem, when the increasingly agitated narrator becomes angry with the crow, he attacks the bird. Here he declares: “Return into the storm and to the Plutonian shore of Night! / Leave no black plume as a sign of the lie that your soul has spoken! / Leave my solitude intact! – leave the bust above my door! / Remove your beak from my heart, and remove your form from my door! (98-101). Here he uses archaic words and expressions such as "you", "the Plutonian shore of night", and "your soul possesses". This use of unorthodox language creates a theatrical, dramatic and climactic effect, which leads to a passionate tone. By presenting the two tones, Poe is able to show the contrast between the two. This transformation from a gentle tone to one of frustration and anxiety represents the downward spiral of the narrator's mental state. This change in tone echoes the emotions and mental state of the narrator. At the beginning of the poem, the narrator begins to get somewhat nervous. However, in the end he becomes crazy and delusional. When he hears a knock on the door, he understands logically that it is most likely a visitor at the door..