The poem is a typical ballad. The ballad “The Three Ravens” is primarily written from the point of view of three ravens who sit on a tree discussing what they should eat for breakfast. One raven brings up the possibility of feasting upon the corpse of a recently slain knight, only to discover that his body had been preserved by his faithful hounds and hawks only to later be carried away and buried by a doe, which is later referred to as a “leda,” an ancient term for a lover.

Considering the title, I expect the poem to speak about the features of three ravens. The story is told through narration and dialogue and starts with narration. I suppose the poem was set in a forest because the three ravens sit on a tree.

The text is arranged into ten stanzas. All stanzas are organized into two lines. The frequent alliterations permit that the rhythm of the poem is fluent.

When you read the first stanza you can note incremental repetition that is the main feature of the ballad. For example, there is the repetition of the word “were” and of the word “as”. The function of this stanza is to introduce the setting of the poem.

In the second stanza, from the word “breakfast” the intelligent reader understands the time of the poem. It is mornig. Moreover, one raven tells even if it is a animal. This is the reason why the intelligent reader understands that it is fantasy. Furthermore, the first line is connected to the second line with the strategy from general to particular.

In the third stanza, the word “downer” moves up the second line of these stanza. In the second line the stress is in the word “lies” and “shield”. Thus, they are the key words of these stanza.

In the fifth stanza, the strategy used by the poet is absolute negation to accentuate the importance of this corpse. From the expression “there’s no fowle dare come him nie” the intelligent reader understands that the knight is respected.

In the seventh stanza the reader is amazed from the word “lift up” because it is lightweight and no hard. The prevalent of the colors in this poem connote the situation. In this case, the color red recalls to blood. It is intense color and for that these color focuses the attention of the raven.

The meaning of the poem is most simply interpreted as being a message about god's protection over all things, living and deceased. God has provided the knight protection from being defiled by the birds post-mortem in the form of numerous animals. The knight preserves his dignity despite his death, though it was likely an unjust death. The choice of animals employed in “The Three Ravens” can be tied to their symbolism as they relate to Greek mythology.