Poem Analysis on Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe

1. Annabel Lee
Edgar Allan Poe

2. 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.

3. Lines 1-6
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.
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.

4. Lines 7-12
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
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
"wingèd 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..

5. Lines 13-20
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.
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.

6. Lines 21-26
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
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.
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.

7. Lines 27-33
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:
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.
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.

8. Lines 34-41
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.
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.

9. 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)

10. 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.

11. Figurative Language
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-."
Enjambment: the continuation of a sentence without a
pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.
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)

12. 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

13. Diction
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.
She 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.
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.
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.

14. Diction
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 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

15. Tone and Theme
Tone
Unlike many of Poe’s poems, Annabel Lee starts with a sense of
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.
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.

16. Vocabulary
Maiden: a girl or young unmarried woman
Wingèd 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

17. 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.