Analysis of "Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allan Poe
Explore the tragic love story of "Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allan Poe, delving into the poet's personal life, background, and the poem's themes. Discover the deep love between the speaker and Annabel Lee, the envy of angels, and the haunting influences Poe faced in his own life that shaped this poignant piece of literature.
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Annabel Lee Edgar Allan Poe
Biography Edgar Allan Poe was born On January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. Poe s father and mother, both professional actors, died before the poet was three years old. John and Frances Allan raised him as a foster child in Richmond, Virginia. In 1827, he moved to Boston and enlisted in the United States Army. In 1836, he married Virginia, who was fourteen years old at the time. Although the poem may refer to a number of women in Poe's life, most acknowledge it to be in memory of Virginia Clemm, Poe's wife who married him at the age of thirteen and who died in 1847 before she turned twenty-five. After Virginia s death from tuberculosis in 1847, Poe s lifelong struggle with depression and alcoholism worsened. Haunted by the loss of many women in his life, including his young wife who died two years before him, Poe often wrote about women dying, including his mother. Annabel Lee was the last poem Edgar Allan Poe wrote before his death in 1849. He sold the rights to it while he was still alive, but it was not published until after his death.
Lines 1-6 The poem begins exactly like a fairy tale, showing us that the poem is not to be taken too literally. It gives us a sense of freedom to set a date where this poem could have taken place. Also, the poem quickly introduces the character Annabel Lee, which is the most important significant figure in the entire poem due to that she is the reason why this poem exists in the first place. The poem introduces her in the third line by calling her a "maiden," which lets us know that she is young. Most importantly, the poem tells us that the speaker and Annabel Lee are in love. So in love that nothing, not even death itself, can tear them apart. It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of Annabel Lee; And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me.
Lines 7-12 I was a child and she was a child, In the first line of this stanza Poe lets the readers know that both he and Annabel Lee were only kids when this love between them as so strong. The second line refers back to the fantasy love that Poe and Annabel have. The kingdom may have a religious meaning behind it something out of this world or heavenly. In the third line the speaker uses the word love three times to emphasize the love s strength. This love was apparently so amazingly strong that the "wing d seraphs" (highest order of angels) in heaven noticed them. In fact, the last three lines state that these angels "coveted" the two young lovers. To covet means to want something really badly, usually something that doesn't belong to you. This is a strange feeling for angels to have, because its not a holy emotion. It's also similar to envy hint that things might not turn out so well.. In this kingdom by the sea, But we loved with a love that was more than love I and my Annabel Lee With a love that the wing d seraphs of Heaven Coveted her and me
Lines 13-20 In this stanza, this is where the turn of events begins. It was mentioned in the last stanza that the winged seraphs of heaven coveted her and the speaker s love for each other. In line 15 it says, A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling my beautiful Annabel Lee , gives us an image that the angels jealousy was the reason why the wind blew out of a cloud chilling her and that results to her death but it doesn t tell us that she dies immediately. The words wind and chill can give you the imagery that she can get sick from the cold weather, like catching a cold for example. In lines 17-20, highborn kinsmen which means a family or a relative can be a symbolism of the angels. This can refer to the one of William Shakespeare s famous story, Romeo and Juliet, because it s like the family wants to take away and ruin the love relationship between Annabel and the speaker. This pains the speaker knowing that she was taken away from him and was shut in a sepulchre, which is a coffin. And this was the reason that, long ago, In this kingdom by the sea, A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling My beautiful Annabel Lee; So that her highborn kingsmen came And bore her away from me, To shut her up in a sepulchre In this kingdom by the sea.
Lines 21-26 In this stanza speaker tells us that the Angels themselves weren t as happy in Heaven as him and his loved one were, causing the Angels jealousy. Therefore we see how he insists in line 13 that that was the reason why the wind came down and killed Annabel Lee. We know that it isn t just an accusation of him because all men that lived in the kingdom know and witness the tragic event. The story doesn t seem to move forward, the fact that he circles back and repeats Annabel s death can lead us to a conclusion about the speaker's mental state and we can see how traumatic it was for him. The angels, not half so happy in Heaven, Went envying her and me: Yes! that was reason (as all men know, In this kingdom by the sea) That the wind came out of the cloud, chilling And killing my Annabel Lee Side notes: Keeping in mind that the setting takes places in the sea we can see how the structure of the poem was purposely constructed of stanzas with different number of syllables to perhaps suggest the rise and fall of the waves. Some lines containing usually 9 to 11 syllables or 6 to 8 syllables.
Lines 27-33 This love is not a normal love, although they were young, they connected and fell into love that could never be replaced or broken. Not even the case death. Nothing in the heavens or hells below can separate his love, from soul to soul of the beautiful Annabel Lee. But our love it was stronger by far than the love Of those who were older than we-- Of many far wiser than we-- And neither the angels in heaven above, Nor the demons down under the sea, Can ever dissever my soul from the soul Of the beautiful Annabel Lee: Nobody would understand how truly in love he was with her, not even people more wise, people stronger, they could not match up, despite how hard they tried, to the love he had for Annabel Lee.
Lines 34-41 Meaning: The first line is an assonance with the continuous sound of B. The poem also changes from past to current tense. The speaker still feels her presence there for her soul is not gone and neither is their love for eachother. Everytime the moon shines, he thinks of her. Everytime the stars come out, she is watching down, burning into him. She is up there, missing him and loving him as well. I lie down by the side of my darling, my darling This indicates that death is no bounds of separation, he lays next to her dead corpse at night cause they have such strong love for eachother. He indicates my bride but they were not married, he states this to show that death can bestow matrimony on them. Ending with the sound of the sea, portraying gloomy-ness. For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride, In her sepulchre there by the sea-- In her tomb by the side of the sea.
Structure The poem is composed of a sestet which is a six stanza poem. The meter is a mixture of an anapest (which is two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable) Example of Anapest (the first line) It/ was/ ma/ny and/ ma/ny a/ year/ a go/ The rhythm of this poem follows as da da DUM, da da DUM, da da DUM. For example (For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And the stars never rise but I see the bright eyes Of the beautiful Annabel Lee) Keeping in mind that the setting takes places in the sea. We also see how the structure of the poem was purposely constructed of stanzas with different number of syllables to perhaps suggest the rise and fall of the waves. It was many and many a year ago, (11 syllables) In a kingdom by the sea, (7 syllables) That a maiden there lived whom you may know (10 syllables) By the name of Annabel Lee (8 syllables) And this maiden she lived with no other thought (11 syllables) Than to love and be loved by me. (8 syllables)
Imagery Poe was a romantic-writer who emerged with a new form of written poetry. He began to touch topics which involved very dark topics such as depression and death. The poem Annabel Lee celebrates childlike emotions in a way consistent with the ideals of the Romantic era. Poe uses the words "maiden" in line 3 and "highborn kinsman" in line 17 to possibly allude to medieval times. This could be an allusion to the setting he wanted the poem to take place in, or Poe could have been comparing his dead wife Virginia, who is represented through Annabel, to royalty and prestige. Poe repeats the word angel a symbol of perfection throughout the whole poem. Repeating the word describes Annabel Lee s perfection. This is important, because the angels' see Annabel as a threat, resulting in her death.
Figurative Language Enjambment: the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza. Metaphors : a thing regarded as representative or symbolic of something else, especially something abstract. Example: "And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes,". This metaphor is comparing the brightness of the stars to Annabel's eyes, which also gives a vivid image. Alliteration: he occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words "That the wind came out of the cloud by night, Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee" "Of those who were older than we- Of many far wiser than we-." Example : That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of Annabel Lee; Caesura: a break between words within a metrical foot Example: Yes! that was the reason (as all men know, In this kingdom by the sea)
Rhyme and Repetition Poe uses three R s rhyme, rhythm, and repetition in Annabel Lee to create a harmony of sounds that symbolizes the harmony of the narrator s relationship with his beloved. The lines of the poem alternate in length between a long line (usually with 9 to 11 syllables) and a short line (usually with 6 to 8 syllables), as in the first stanza.The long lines sometimes rhyme, and sometimes don't, but the short lines always end in the same sound: It was many and many a year ago, (11 syllables) A In a kingdom by the sea, (7 syllables) B That a maiden there lived whom you may know (10 syllables) A By the name of Annabel Lee (8 syllables) B And this maiden she lived with no other thought (11 syllables) C Than to love and be loved by me. (8 syllables) B
Diction And this was the reason that, long ago, It was many and many a year ago, In this kingdom by the sea, In a kingdom by the sea, A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling That a maiden there lived whom you may know My beautiful Annabel Lee; By the name of Annabel Lee; So that her highborn kinsmen came And this maiden she lived with no other thought And bore her away from me, Than to love and be loved by me. To shut her up in a sepulchre In this kingdom by the sea. She was a child and she was a child, In this kingdom by the sea, The angels, not half so happy in Heaven, But we loved with a love that was more than love Went envying her and me I and my Annabel Lee Yes! that was the reason (as all men know, With a love that the wing d seraphs of Heaven In this kingdom by the sea) Coveted her and me. That the wind came out of the cloud by night, Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.
Diction But our love it was stronger by far than the love For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams Of those who were older than we Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; Of many far wiser than we And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes And neither the angels in Heaven above Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; Nor the demons down under the sea Can ever dissever my soul from the soul And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; Of my darling my darling my life and my bride, In her sepulchre there by the sea In her tomb by the sounding sea
Tone and Theme Tone Unlike many of Poe s poems, Annabel Lee starts with a sense of Themes The theme of Annabel Lee is the death of a beautiful woman. A woman whom which the narrator falls in love with, a love so strong that the angels become envious. It also relates to the similar theme of the poem La Belle Dame Sans Merci by John Keats which speaks about a man who finds himself obsessively attached to a woman who no longer exists, yet the memories seem to be enough to endure their love. happiness. An example of this would be the first line which says It was many and many a year ago In a kingdom by the sea This lines begins like a typical children s book, with a fantasy-like setting. However, When the narrator begins to reflect on his memories with Annabel before her death the tone is bittersweet. He found joy in the memories they shared. However, reality brought him sorrow. When Poe speaks of the present tense his tone changes to despair, and somewhat anger for his love's death. The mood of the story seems to be parallel to the tone.
Vocabulary Maiden: a girl or young unmarried woman Wing d seraphs : A celestial being having three pairs of wings; highest of angels. Coveted: yearn to possess or have (something) Kinsmen: one of a person's blood relations, especially a male Sepulchre: a small room or monument, cut in rock or built of stone, in which a dead person is laid or buried. Dissever: divide or sever (something) night-tide: flood that occurs only during the night
Imagery of Light/Darkness There are many implied and explicit images of darkness and light occur throughout the poem. Poe implies that the kingdom by the sea is a bright, cheerful place where the sun shines on two young lovers, the narrator and Annabel Lee. However ironically, the Seraphim, grow dark with envy of the young couple. Under cover of night, they send a cold wind that kills Annabel Lee: "The wind came out of the cloud by night, / Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee." The narrator says he remains in a realm of light, for his soul and the soul of Annabel Lee are one. In the last stanza, Poe emphasizes this point with light imagery: For the moon never beams without bringing me dream Of the beautiful Annabel Lee And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes Of the beautiful Annabel Lee. His beloved becomes the moon and the stars shining down on him from the bright night sky.
