Poem Review: Annabel Lee

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.

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.

Annabel Lee is the last poem completed by Edgar Allan Poe before his death. Annabel Lee is a well know poem of Poe’s that may refer to many women in his life, but scrutinizing some of Annabel lee’s line we infer that this poem talks about his wife Virginia Clemm, Poe’s wife, who he married when she was still in a young age and died a couple of years before him because of a disease.

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 sepulcher

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.

Reading a few stanzas we can know that love is a huge theme in his poem. It promotes undying love that even the death of his loved one won’t stop him for loving her, and truly death won’t tear them apart and no one can stop him. While the main theme of this poem is love it doesn’t only address to the sweet happiness you gain from it, it digs deeper to the dangerous fragments of this affection he had, the way love can torture and destroy you leaving you all alone.

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;

It somehow talks about envy, like the angels are not happy, that’s why they made something that causes the death of dear Annabel Lee.

What is it with this poem that attracts me? Maybe the 4 years in high school that we have tackled this poem or maybe the catchy lines that makes me ponder on it more. This poem tells us that love on any forms has no boundaries, even death. Death can’t stop us from caring, loving our beloved ones or even forgetting them. Death can’t change our dreams and hopes and is a challenge we can surpass.

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 sepulcher there by the sea—

 In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Review written by: Venice Majella Napo

Photo credits: https://www.etsy.com/listing/74071598/annabel-leeedgar-allen-poes-muse