On Friday, two of my great loves collided — literature, and football. Davante Adams posted a picture of literary giant Edgar Allan Poe on his Instagram account, setting off massive speculation amidst his trade drama.
Poe's most famous work is " The Raven ." Could this mean the Ravens are involved? I don't think so. Instead, I'm taking the stance that Adams is a closet literary genius that understands the symbolism of one of the greatest poems ever written. Even if he doesn't, we're going to pretend that he does.
First, some background. "The Raven" by Poe was published in January of 1845 in the New York Evening Mirror. It became an instant classic, dripping with dark and haunting symbolism.
The poem is about a subject, with the poem being written in first person. The subject, on a bleak and stormy evening, is mourning the loss of his love, Lenore, and is engaged in a conversation with a cryptic visitor — a raven. This raven, throughout the poem, consistently utters the phrase "nevermore" in response to the subject's pleads of hope and freedom from the pain and sorrow that he feels, and his borderline-frantic longing for happiness to return.
There are three characters, the subject, the raven, and Lenore. If I'm utilizing the symbolism from the poem, I'll put it as such — Adams represents the subject, the raven represents his agency, and Lenore, his long lost love? Take a guess.
Aaron Rodgers.
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore —
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
'Tis some visitor,' I muttered. Tapping at my chamber door —
Only this and nothing more.
Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow
From the books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
Nameless here for evermore.
Adams, in the bleak December of his playing career, stuck in quarterback purgatory in the middle of the literal and metaphorical desert, longs "for the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name" Rodgers. Could you blame him after the eight-year stretch that they had together?
But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing farther than he uttered—not a feather then he fluttered—
Till I scarcely more than muttered "Other friends have flown before—
On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before."
Then the bird said "Nevermore."
The raven, the symbol of unyielding pain to the main character, responds in saying "nevermore" to the statement of "on the morrow (tomorrow) he will leave me." That raven, that symbol of sadness, isn't going anywhere.
After much back and forth, of the subject (Adams) questioning the raven (his agents) about a hope for tomorrow, a hope for an end to sadness, the subject comes to a stark realization.
And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted—nevermore!
His soul will never be listed. He is condemned to this life of sorrow, of mourning, of pain. Maybe, just maybe, Adams knows something we don't know yet — that he isn't going anywhere.
Alright, so maybe I'm reading way too much into this. Or maybe Adams is a literary nerd like myself, and likens himself to the subject lost and alone in the bleak December, searching to be free of the vice grip that sorrow brings.
Or maybe he just likes Poe's haircut.
Related: NBA-esque decisions puts Davante Adams further away from the Bills and Steelers
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