Final answer:
By the end of 'The Raven,' the speaker hopes the raven will leave him and stop reminding him of his lost love, Lenore. Despite these pleas, the raven remains, symbolizing the speaker's unending grief.
Step-by-step explanation:
At the end of Edgar Allan Poe's poem 'The Raven', the speaker frantically seeks release from the persistent torment brought on by the raven's presence and its repeated utterance of the word 'Nevermore'. The speaker pleads with the raven, imploring it to return back to the 'Night's Plutonian shore' and leave him in peace. His hope is that the bird will take with it the overwhelming grief and reminder of his lost love, Lenore, which the raven's presence reinforces. The climactic stanza expresses the speaker's desperation and his longing for the end of his suffering:
'Prophet!' said I, 'thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! - ... Tell me - tell me, I implore!' Quoth the raven, 'Nevermore.'
In spite of the speaker's demands, the poem concludes with the raven still perched, unmoving, signifying that the speaker's soul is trapped by grief and will never be 'lifted - nevermore.' This notion of eternal suffering is emphasized in the poem's final lines, highlighting the enduring despair that has consumed the speaker.