In 'The Raven', what did the narrator study to try to forget his lost Lenore?

In “The Raven,” the narrator studies forgotten lore to try to forget his lost Lenore.

Poe’s poem opens with the speaker reading “many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore” late at night in December. He is not identified by name, but Poe described him elsewhere as a young scholar. His reading is an attempt to distract himself from Lenore’s death and the grief that overwhelms him.

The phrase does not mean that he is studying a specific school subject such as science, poetry, or philosophy. “Lore” suggests accumulated learning, traditional knowledge, and possibly mysterious or occult material. The poem’s references to Pallas Athena, angels, and the “Plutonian shore” reinforce its atmosphere of classical, religious, and supernatural allusion.

Readers sometimes remember that the narrator is a student and answer “books” or “knowledge.” Those ideas are broadly related, but the poem’s exact wording makes “forgotten lore” the canonical answer. His reading is interrupted when the raven arrives and repeatedly answers his questions with “Nevermore.”