Annabel Lee, Edgar Allan Poe

Annabel Lee

 

Edgar Allan Poe

 

 

 

It was many and many a year ago,

 

In a kingdom by the sea,

 

That maiden there lived whom you may know

 

By the name on Annabel Lee;-

 

And this maiden she lived with no other thought

 

Than to love and be loved by me.

 

 

 

She was a child and I 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 winged seraphs of Heaven

 

Coverted her and me.

 

 

 

And this was the reason that, long ago,

 

In this kingdom by the sea,

 

A wind blew out of a cloud, by night

 

Chilling my 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.

 

 

 

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, chilling

 

And killing my 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:-

 

 

 

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;

 

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.

 

Meaning

 

Edgar Allan Poe's "Annabel Lee" is an elegy mourning the death of a loved one. The poem's speaker falls in love with a girl named Annabel Lee in a seaside kingdom. The two love each other with more than love. However, the love between the two aroused the jealousy of the angels, and Annabel Lee died due to a curse from an angel on the wind.

 

 

 

The speaker of the poem is saddened by Annabel Lee's death. But their love is still strong. The speaker of the poem spends the night with her Annabel Lee at her grave. Under the moonlight and stars, she dreams of Annabel Lee and feels her bright eyes.

 

 

 

The contemporary meaning of this poem can be interpreted as follows. In the 19th century, America was experiencing rapid social change due to the Industrial Revolution. Amid these changes, people were feeling confused and anxious about their existing values. Annabel Lee can be seen as a work that reflects this confusion and anxiety. Through Annabel Lee's death, the speaker of the poem realizes the preciousness of her love. Additionally, her death symbolizes the absurdity and absurdity of the world.

 

 

 

Edgar Allan Poe

He was born in Boston in January 1809 to parents who were theater actors, but his father abandoned his wife and children a year later, and his mother passed away two years later, raising him as an adopted child. His poetry has a gloomy feel with themes of death and melancholy. He attended the University of Virginia and published a book of poetry at age 19. He married 14-year-old Virginia when he was 27, and when he was 39, his wife died of tuberculosis. He drew her and wrote “Annabel Lee” about her. He died at age 41.

 

Story

 

A man breaks up with the woman he loves.

 

At first, he accepts her breakup calmly, but as time goes by, he becomes unable to forget her.

 

Love is simple, but it is something that cannot be expressed in words. He visited her grave and missed her every day. He cannot accept her death and wishes to continue his love with her forever.

 

Questions

 

Student: Professor, what does the phrase in Annabel Lee mean, “With a love that would make even the winged angels of her heaven jealous of her and me?”

 

P: That phrase refers to how intense and pure the love between two people was. Angels are symbols of love. Therefore, the fact that the angels are jealous of two people means that their love is stronger than the angels' love.

 

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Student: Professor, what does the phrase “but our love was much stronger” mean in Annabelle Lee?

 

Professor: That phrase means that the love between two people can overcome even death. Annabel Lee died due to the angels' curse, but their love remained strong. The speaker of the poem shows that the love between the two is eternal by spending the night with her Annabel Lee at her grave.