ANNABEL LEE

BY: EDGAR ALLAN POE

WHO IS EDGAR ALLAN POE

• Edgar Allan Poe was one of the most influential and important
American writers of the 19th century.
• He was the first author to try to make a professional living as a
writer.
• Born on 19 January 1809, Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
• Died on 7 October 1849, Church Home & Hospital, Baltimore,
Maryland, United States.
• His poetry alone would ensure his spot in the literary canon.
• Poe completely transformed the genre of the horror story with his
masterful tales of psychological depth and insight not envisioned in
the genre before his time scarcely seen in it since.
• He was an early pioneer in the genre of science fiction.
• Poe is credited with the invention of the modern detective story
with “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.”
ANNABEL LEE

• Annabel Lee is a haunting ballad of a poem, with a wealth of

hypnotic rhythm and song-like rhyme. It has a fairytale air and can
also resonate with all who have been in love or felt tragedy and
loss.
• The rhythms and rhyme reflect the speaker's obsession with his
childhood love; they are often repeated which helps to reinforce
the spiritual connection (whilst echoing the waves and motion of
the sea) which is deep and profound. There is an intensity about
this poem that builds up as the stanzas progress, then subsides,
before rebuilding.
• The basic theme is that of true love being able to transcend death;
nothing can keep these two souls apart, not even supernatural
forces. The two lived for love, for one another. As they lived, so shall
they die, next to each other forever.
 ANNABEL LEE

I
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.
 II
I was a child and she was a child,
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 wingèd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.
 III
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 kinsmen came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.
 IV
The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
Went envying her and me—
Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.
 V
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;
 VI
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 sounding sea.
ANALYSIS OF ANNABEL LEE
Structure and Form
– "Annabel Lee" consists of six stanzas, three with six lines, one with
seven, and two with eight, with the rhyme pattern differing slightly in
each one. Though it is not technically a ballad, Poe referred to it as
one. Like a ballad, the poem uses repetition of words and phrases
purposely to create its mournful effect.
– Annabel Lee is a rhyming poem with six stanzas, - two sextets, an
octet, a sextet, a septet and a final octet, making 41 lines in total.
Rhyme Scheme
– There is a complex rhyme scheme which needs to be fully explored.
– Each stanza is different rhyme-wise, but there is a continuous thread
linking all of them, the long vowel of e. For example, the word sea is in
all the stanzas, as is Annabel Lee. This rhyme turns up 21 times
throughout the poem and is the linchpin, sometimes repeated.
– The overall rhyme scheme: ababcb dbebfb abgbhbib fbabjb ebbebkb
lbmbnnbb.
Mood and Tone
– The mood and tone of this poem is sad and dark. It's about two young
lovers, and is presented in the point of view of the boy. He talks about
his love, Annabel Lee, and how she died of frostbite on a cold night,
but that doesn't stop him from loving her.
Meter
– Annabel Lee has a mix of rhythm within its lines, which makes it a
fascinating read. In some stanzas the steady soft-soft-strong anapest
and regular iambs dominate, in others the stumbling, jolting dactyl
and amphibrachs come through. Keep an eye out for the odd trochee.
Tetrameter and trimeter carry the bulk of the feet.
– This is full anapestic tetrameter, creating a floating lilt some have
noted is like a buoy on a soft swell, or waves folding and forming. The
rest of the stanza is in anapest, tetrameter and trimeter.
Literary Devices
• The literary devices that the poet uses of
are imagery and personification. In the first two stanzas of the
poem, Edgar Allan Poe uses imagery to help the readers see,
feel and appreciate the love and married life that the speaker
and his beloved Annabel Lee shared. Poe also used these
devices to express the speaker’s deep sorrow and depression.

Theme
• Love is a huge theme in the poem. The narrator and Annabel
Lee fell in love when they were young 'in a Kingdom by the
sea.' Their love is challenged by Annabel Lee's death, but the
narrator does not give up on her, believes that their souls are
intertwined, and sleeps in her tomb at night.
Message
• Life is short; always show your love to someone.

Conclusion
• The poem describes the underlying love the
speaker has for Annabel Lee, which began many
years ago in an unnamed “kingdom by the sea.”
In his poem, Poe makes use of a lot of poetic
devices to enhance the reader's understanding of
his deep affection for his beloved Annabel Lee,
thus making it the best poem in the world.