Question

Two paragraphs to compare and contrast the voice in these two poems, ''the raven & the song of wandering aengus''. how does the poet give the speaker in each poem a distinctive voice? what effect does this voice have in each poem??
please help !

Answer 1

Answer: Both of these two poems approach the theme of longing for a woman from a rather unusual point of view. Their tone, however, is quite different.

Explanation:

In Poe's "The Raven", the speaker is dealing with a loss of his Lenore. In the middle of a cold, winter night, he is visited by a raven that can speak. The tone is depressing and melancholy, even more so because the raven only utters one word - "Nevermore!" This is the answer to all of the questions that the speaker asks. The speaker is deeply disturbed by this visit - he wants the raven to leave him alone to mourn. He, however, is also determined to get answers to his questions, which shows that he is unreasonable. The speaker's sadness is taking its toll, and it remains open to our interpretation whether the raven is just a product of his imagination.  "The song of wandering aengus" has a different plot - W. B. Yeats describes a man's experience from the past, in which he catches a silver fish that is transformed into a "glimmering girl." The speaker cannot forget her, and wants to find her. The tone of the poem is, again, melancholy at times, but not to the same extent as in Poe's poem. The speaker remains hopeful that he will find this girl. Even if we do not believe in this outcome, the poem is still less dark than "The Raven", and there is a sense of optimism.