The raven plays various symbolic roles in the poem. As Poe would know from his academic training, ravens have deep mythological significance in world literature, often playing messengers of bad news (Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Chaucer’s “Manciple’s Tale,” Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”). In this context the raven may come bearing some arcane or otherworldly knowledge from the afterlife.

The raven can also be interpreted as an unthinking animal, the ultimate symbol of irrationality. In this reading its landing on a statue of Athena signifies the topsy-turvy nature of Poe’s world, with the terrifying dominion of irrationality over wisdom and the arts. Without the positive influence of Lenore in his life, the speaker turns to the supernatural (“books of forgotten lore”) and illogically ascribes human characteristics to an animal. One might even argue that the speaker, knowing full well that the bird can only reply “Nevermore,” phrases his questions in such a way as to confirm his own dread about death and the afterlife, inviting irrationality to take up a permanent presence in his life.

The figure of the raven may also suggest, on a symbolic level, grief itself. As the speaker mourns, trying to distract himself, isolated from his friends, he finally realizes that the pain of his grief will never really go away.