The Philosophy of Composition

At the turn of the 19th century, writers and artists in Europe and the United States developed a new orientation that has come to be called Romanticism (c. 1800-1850). They rejected the extreme rationalism and optimism of the Enlightenment (c. 1685-1800), focusing instead on the intricacies of the individual’s subjective and unique consciousness. In literature, writers increasingly explored experiences of isolation and loneliness, reflecting (among other things) disappointment in the failure of the French Revolution and distress at the social disruption brought on by the early Industrial Revolution. Many authors turned away from society and toward nature for solace and inspiration. The mourning student and talking bird in Poe’s poem reflect Romanticism’s interest in idiosyncratic experiences and the personification of nature.

One strand of Romanticism, however, turned away from both science and nature toward the occult and supernatural. Writers such as Poe, William Blake, and Mary Shelley became preoccupied with terror, surprise, bizarre incidents, and aberrant personalities, concentrating on the limits of human understanding and the mysterious and destructive forces (both inside and out) that frustrate hope. This artistic movement is sometimes referred to as Dark Romanticism or Gothic.

“The Raven” is a work of Dark Romanticism, as are many of Poe’s other writings. Yet his work also reflects elements of Enlightenment literature that are usually considered the opposite of Dark Romanticism. For example, while Poe’s detective stories often depict ghastly and bizarre crimes, they are solved by the cool use of observation and logic by an investigator. Similarly, “The Raven” is a bleak exploration of irredeemable loss and melancholy, yet Poe’s “Philosophy of Composition” is a clear and logical essay that seems to show the power rather than the weakness of human intellect. Ironically, the essay uses reason and argumentation to explain how he creates the poetic effect that reason and argumentation are powerless against nature and suffering.