Question

Which of these stanzas from "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe represents the speaker's desire to be free from his sorrow and memories of Lenore?
Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
"Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore—
Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore
Of 'Never—nevermore.'"

. . .

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
"Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee—by these angels he hath sent thee
Respite—respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

. . .

Answer 1

Answer:

The second stanza represents the speaker's desire to break free from his sadness and memories of Lenore.

Explanation:

There is no person fond of literature who has not, at some point in his life, come across any excerpt from the poem The Raven, written by Edgar Alan Poe. The poem deals with the most painful subject for any human being: the death of a loved one This leads to discoveries of dark truths about himself to a non-liberating death, binding the poem's speaker to the world of pain in which he met the death of his beloved Lenore. I cannot detail the poem as a literary work, as it is precisely a poem: one must feel and be understood as to how one is touched, but one must recognize its intensity and ability to show that a pain is carried to even beyond the grave.

The speaker of the poem feels anguished and extremely depressed; he longs to break free from the bad feelings and desolation Lenore's death brings to his heart. This desperation and the will to liberation can be seen in the following stanza of the poem:

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer

Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.

"Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee—by these angels he hath sent thee

Respite—respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!

Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!"

Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

Answer 2

Answer:

Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore—