Stanza 1: In this stanza, the author is saying that in the middle of the night as he was thinking and dozing off, someone or something was knocking on his door. He is in his house when this happens and the knocking was happening on his chamber door.

Stanza 2: The narrator in this stanza is saying that it was in December when he lost his wife Lenore. He is very upset and has “sorrow for the lost Lenore.”

Stanza 3: The narrator is becoming terrified by the curtains moving from the wind.. He tells himself that it is only someone knocking at his door, nothing else. He repeats this to convince himself that it is this, and nothing more.

Stanza 4: In the fourth stanza, the narrator is talking about how he was in his chamber, and he heard the rapping. He then talks about going to the door of his chamber to tell the person that he was napping, when they came rapping. When he opens the door he realizes that there was darkness, and nothing more.

Stanza 5: The narrator in this stanza is staring into the darkness. He is wondering what is out there and starting to become very fearful. He whispers the word “Lenore” telling us that maybe he is afraid she is out there

Stanza 6: After looking out the door, the narrator turns back inside. He hears the tapping again. He decides that the tapping is this coming from the window screen, or lattice. (A screen or fence used as a support.) He goes to see what the tapping is, but already has an idea and believes that it is nothing more than the wind.

Stanza 7: In this stanza, the narrator opened his shutters to find a raven that flew up to a bust of Pallas. A bust of Pallas is a sculpture of the Greek god Athena’s head, shoulders, and chest. The bird made no obeisance, meaning he gave no respect. The bird stayed there and did nothing else.

Stanza 8: In the eighth stanza, the narrator calls the Raven an “ebony bird”. Ebony means to be very dark or black. He is amused by the bird and asks for the raven’s name. When the bird tells the narrator that his name is Nevermore, he starts thinking that the raven is truly conscious of this. The narrator imagines the raven speaking to him and wanting to hurt him. “Tell me what thy lordly name is on Night’s Plutonian shore!” Night’s Plutonian Shore is symbolism for the afterlife. The Raven may be a messenger from beyond the curtain of death, to the unnamed protagonist.

Stanza 9: In this stanza, the narrator says he sees the Raven and not a human living being. He’s not sure if it is a bird or a beast. The bird kept saying “Nevermore”.

Stanza 10: Now we see the narrator expressing how he will be very lonely, and his hopes will fly away once the Raven leaves him “on the morrow” (tomorrow). The Raven is not the only “friend” that has visited him- for he says “Other friends have flown before.” The bird still says only one word: “Nevermore”.

Stanza 11: After the bird says “Nevermore” to the narrator saying that it shall leave like all others he’s known have, the narrator becomes a little freaked out. He decides that the bird is only able to say this one word because of a former owner who had such a terrible life that all he said was “Nevermore.”

Stanza 12: The narrator