The refrain is primarily used to
emphasize a key image or idea
. For example, in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven,” the eponymous bird incessantly and infuriatingly repeats, “Nevermore.” This is the raven’s response to the speaker’s questions about where the raven has come from and what it wants.
What is the refrain of the Raven?
Refrain: The lines that are repeated at some distance in the poems are called a refrain. The line “Quoth the Raven,
“Nevermore” is repeated in the same
words. Therefore, it has achieved the status of a refrain of this poem.
What is refrain what is its purpose?
Refrain is purely a poetic device, and the most important function that a refrain may serve in poetry is
to lay emphasis and create rhythm
. When a line or phrase recurs in a poem, or a piece of literature, it becomes noticeable to the readers.
The Raven is just one piece of work that he shows us his mastery. Proceeding from the assumption that repeating something enhances both the effect and the importance of the statement, the repetition of
“nevermore” reiterates the grief, despair and fatalistic hopelessness of the speaker
in the poem.
What is the irony in The Raven?
The Raven offers far more pronounced instances of
situational irony
— the mere fact of a bird being the interloper in the narrator’s chamber rather than a human is in itself an example of situational irony — but Poe did include dramatic irony in his poem as well.
What does The Raven symbolize in the poem?
The titular raven represents
the speaker’s unending grief over the loss of Lenore
. Therefore, the primary action of the poem—the raven interrupting the speaker’s seclusion—symbolizes how the speaker’s grief intrudes upon his every thought. …
Is refrain a figure of speech?
Refrains in Speeches and Prose Writing
Because a refrain
can refer to virtually any kind of repetition in prose writing
, it can overlap with other figures of speech that refer to very specific sorts of repetition, including epistrophe and anaphora.
What is the refrain in the poem?
In poetry, a refrain is
a word, line or phrase that is repeated within the lines or stanzas of the poem itself
. There are three common types of refrain: … the burden – the most common form of refrain, in which a whole word or phrase is repeated a regular intervals.
What’s the difference between refrain and repetition?
What is the difference between repetition and refrain give an example? … Refrain is repetition of usually
a line
, a phrase, two or three lines, or even words in a poem. Repetition, on the other hand, involves repetition of words, phrases, syllables, or even sounds in a full piece.
What is the main message of The Raven?
The main idea of “The Raven” is that
grief can alter one’s mind and make one feel trapped
. The grief-stricken speaker is driven to irrationality by his grief, and he realizes that he can never forget death now that he has lost a loved one to it.
What is the main theme of The Raven?
The poem explores
how grief can overcome a person’s ability to live in the present and engage with society
. Over the course of the poem, the speaker’s inability to forget his lost love Lenore drives him to despair and madness.
What is a metaphor in The Raven?
The raven says “Nevermore.” A very good example of a metaphor is
“And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming
.” In this quote Poe is comparing the raven’s eyes to a demon. An example of a simile is when he uses a comparison to express the narrator’s grief to the raven’s reply to him.
Why is The Raven so popular?
This story is very popular because
it encapsulates the feeling of despair from losing something very close to you
. People can also relate to this story because it allows the readers to follow a character through drastic changes, possibly changes that they are going through themselves.
Is there foreshadowing in The Raven?
Another popular literary work, “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe, uses
foreshadowing as a technique to set the mood
. In this famous poem, Poe sets the scene at midnight on a gloomy night when the narrator suddenly hears a knock at the door.
What does Lenore symbolize?
She may represent
idealized love, beauty, truth, or hope in a better world
. She is “rare and radiant” we are told several times, an angelic description, perhaps symbolic of heaven. Lenore may symbolize truth: the narrator cannot help but think of her, and her ubiquitous, yet elusive, nature haunts the narrative.
Why does the raven keep saying nevermore?
The word nevermore is
a reminder from the Raven that the speaker will see his lost love Lenore never again
, and the raven is a reminder of his sorrow that won’t leave. Alliteration. It creates several pauses and is used for dramatic suspense. It gets the reader to pay attention to what is being said.
