1. midnight dreary, bleak December, chamber door, silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain, darkness peering, window lattice
2. The narrator is feeling weak, weary, sorrowful, and fearful. He is weak and weary from pondering over forgotten lore and seeking solace for his lost Lenore. He feels sorrow for Lenore and fear due to the mysterious tapping and the ominous atmosphere, which fills him with "fantastic terrors never felt before."
3. Underlined parts:
- "Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,"
- "While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,"
- "As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door."
- "'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, 'tapping at my chamber door -"
- "Only this, and nothing more."
- "Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,"
- "And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor."
- "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 named Lenore -"
- "Nameless here for evermore."
- "And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain"
- "Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;"
- "So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating"
- "'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;"
- "Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; -"
- "This it is, and nothing more."
- "Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,"
- "'Sir,' said I, 'or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;"
- "But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,"
- "And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,"
- "That I scarce was sure I heard you' - here I opened wide the door; -"
- "Darkness there, and nothing more."
4. The effect of closing the first four stanzas with words that all rhyme ("more") is to create a strong, repetitive, and haunting rhythm. This reinforces the poem's melancholic and obsessive tone, mirroring the narrator’s fixation on his grief and the mysterious tapping. It also builds suspense and emphasizes the inevitability and inescapability of the narrator’s sorrow.
5. "each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor," "the silken sad uncertain rustling," "the beating of my heart," "the darkness gave no token," "an echo murmured back the word," "all my soul within me burning"
Parent Tip: Review the logic above to help your child master the concept of edgar allan poe the raven worksheet answers.
