Read this excerpt from Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven."

"The Raven"
by Edgar Allan Poe (excerpt)

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 my books surcease of sorrow-sorrow for the lost Lenore,
For the rare and radiant malden whom the angels name Lenore:
Nameless here for evermore.
Which Gothic theme is portrayed in the excerpt?
A. social misfits
B. fading beauty
C. descent into madness
D. mourning and grief
E. life after death