to create dreadful moods. “The Raven” is perhaps the most famouspoem written by Poe and follows a narrator who laments the death ofhis one true love, Lenore. A raven visits the bereaved man, who believesthe bird was sent from the underworld. The man then asks the raven anumber of questions regarding his lost love. Despite the man’s anguish,the raven repeatedly answers with only the word “Nevermore.” Thisrepetition only increases the narrator’s anguish, yet the poem doesnot seek to reconcile the situation in order to provide a moral lesson.In accordance with Poe’s literary theory, the poem conveys a feelingof hopelessness, coupled with an eerie mood, which became Poe’sdefining literary style.Similarly, Poe’s short stories combine spooky, dark elements witha sense of despair. These themes are frequently connected to a feelingof loss and a fear of one’s inevitable demise. For instance, Poe’s shortstory “The Fall of the House of Usher” follows a narrator as he visitsan old friend. He learns that his friend’s sister has died and is currentlyentombed in a vault in the house. The narrator and his friend bury her,only to find that they are inexplicably agitated for the next week. His hostbegins to hallucinate. Eventually, the deceased sister reappears in thehouse and falls on her brother, violently killing him. The narrator then fleesthe estate and turns to see the house sink into the bog surrounding it.