Edgar Allan Poe structured the last stanza of "The Raven" to mimic the first in order to create a sense of closure and to emphasize the cyclical nature of the poem. By repeating the opening lines, Poe reinforces the idea that the narrator's anguish and longing for his lost love will continue indefinitely. This repetition serves to intensify the poem's somber and haunting tone, as well as to highlight the narrator's inability to move on from his grief. Additionally, the repetition emphasizes the raven's persistent presence and its role as a symbol of the narrator's torment. Overall, the last stanza's mirroring of the first stanza is a deliberate poetic technique employed by Poe to enhance the poem's themes of loss, despair, and the eternal presence of grief.
