Essay 3.........

Annabel Lee

By Edgar Allan Poe

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 winged 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 kinsman 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. 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 the sepulchre there by the sea, In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Edgar Allen Poe was born in Boston Massachusetts on January 19, 1809 and died on October 7th, 1849. Poe's father abandoned the family while he was still young and shortly after his mother died causing Poe to become an orphan at the age of 2. Poe was taken in by a Richmond merchant named John Allan. While under Allan's care, Poe attended University of Virgina but later got expelled due to lack of tuition payments. After having to leave school Poe joined the Army in 1827. A year later in 1828, Poe received a dishonorable discharge from the Army for intentional neglect of his duties. In 1836 Poe married his 13 year old cousin Virgina Clemm. Their marriage came to an end in 1847 when Virgina died from tuberculosis. Although Poe had a tragic childhood it was these events that made him a great writer. All of his writings can be tied back to people and events from his life. One of my favorite poems by Poe is tittled Annabel Lee and was published in 1849; this was Poe's last poem before he died at the age of 40.

Annabel Lee is a narrative poem that consist of 6 stanzas. This poem follows a repetition of long "e" sounding words. In the first stanza, line 2 ends in sea, line 4 ends in Lee and line 6 ends with me. Stanzas 2 and 3 both repeat a sea, Lee, me pattern. The pattern in stanza 4 changes to me, sea, and Lee. For stanza 5 its we, we, sea, and Lee. The last stanza changes to Lee, Lee, sea and sea; however even though the words changed, the poem still follows the long "e" sound repetition. Another scheme found in the poem is an internal rhyme that is in the last line of the 4th stanza "Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee." Also within the poem there is refrains of "kingdom by the sea" and "beautiful Annabel Lee."

In Poe's poem Annabel Lee, he tells a story about a young couple who had a tragic end to their great love for one another. It was a long time ago (line 1) in a kingdom by the sea (line 2) where a beautifully young and unmarried women lived that everyone knew (line 3) and her name was Annabel Lee (line 4) Annabel Lee had no other reason for living (line 5) then to love and be loved by me (line 6). We were both young (line 7) in this kingdom by the sea (line 8) but we loved each other more then anyone possibly could (line 9) it was just me and my Annabel Lee (line 10) with love so great even the angels in heaven (line 11) went envying me and Annabel Lee's love for one another (line 12). It is because of their envy long ago (line 13) in the kingdom by the sea (line 14) that one day out from no where an illness (line 15) was brought upon my beloved Annabel Lee (line 16) a relative came (line 17) and took my Annabel Lee from me (line 18) they buried her in a grave (line 19) in the kingdom by the sea (line 20). The unhappy people around us (line 21) were jealous of me and my Annabel Lee (line 22) yes, that is the reason why my Annabel Lee died and everyone knows it (line 23) in this kingdom by the sea (line 24) the death was unexpected and unforeseen one night (line 25) killing my Annabel Lee (line 26). But our love is stronger then others (line 27) greater then those older then us (line 28) even greater than those wiser than us (line 29) and no one, not even the angels in heaven (line30) or the demons in the world (line 31) could take away the love that I have (line 32) for my beautiful Annabel Lee (line 33). Not a night passes without me thinking about (line34) my beautiful Annabel Lee (line35) I can't feel earths beauty but I feel the beauty (line 36) of my beautiful Annabel Lee (line 37) and so at the end of the day I lay beside (line 38) my life, my love, my world, my everything (line 39) in her burial tomb by the sea (line 40) in her grave by the sound of the sea (line 41).

Poe is excellent when it comes to using symbols to deepen the meaning of his poetry and to create imagery for the readers. Just within these 6 stanzas there are many symbols to interpret. The first symbol in Annabel Lee is the kingdom. The kingdom can be found in lines 2, 8, 14, 20, and 24, the kingdom is where Annabel Lee comes from and gives her the description of coming from wealth and money. When you also hear kingdom you also think about tyranny and cruelty. The sea plays a big role with the setting, the sea is repeated in lines 2, 8, 14, 20, 24, 31, 40, and 41. The symbolic meaning of the sea is having boundaries. Another symbol Poe uses to contribute to the setting is sepulchre; line 19 and 40. In the ancient Hebrew practices sepulchres were a burial place that were mostly found on hillsides. Poe uses the wind to symbolize the initial factor that killed Annabel Lee, he repeats wind in lines 15 and 25. According to the symbol dictionary, wind is symbolic for the messenger of divine intervention. Another interesting symbol Poe used is a winged seraph, line 11. A winged seraph is known to be the highest rank of the angels. In Jewish imagery seraphs are known to have a humanistic form. To further describe Annabel Lees social status Poe used the word kinsman which means of noble birth.

In Poe's poetry he uses archetypes that are found in many romance stories. For example in Annabel Lee there is the young lovers, forbidden love, the princess and the shadow. The young lovers and forbidden love is Annabel Lee and her lover. The Princess describes Annabel Lee and how incredible her beauty is. The shadow archetype is represented by the angels and demons Poe talks about in lines 30 and 31 "And neither the angels in heaven above,Nor the demons down under the sea." Poe uses the angels and demons to show who envied the couples love. A familiar motif that can be connected to Poe's Poem Annabel Lee is William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet had an inseparable love for one another and that is the same with the love of Annabel Lee and her lover. Also both stories have a similar tragic ending that were caused by out side forces that they couldn't control.

Poe is well known for his literary work of poems, short stories and satires. Most of his writing deals with death and tragedy. Poe often brings his stories to life with dark romantic tones. In the poem Annabel Lee, the tone is gloomy and painful. Poe writes about a couple whom was struck with an untimely death which left a lover lost and empty. Poe sets the tone with his description of the characters heart break. In the first line of the last stanza, Poe wrote "For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee"; this quote expresses the suffering that is brought to him when he thinks about his beloved Annabel Lee. The character's anguish takes over his life after her death, proven when he states"And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes Of the beautiful Annabel Lee"; for he believes he has nothing else to live for now that she's gone.

To conclude, after continuous interpretation as well as breaking down the stanzas, I believe Poe wrote this Poem to his deceased wife Virgina Clemm. Poe's wife died from tuberculous and that fits with Annabel Lee line 26, "Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee." In addition in the poem Annabel Lee, Poe states in line 7 "I was a child and she was a child"; Poe married Virgina when she was 13. Poe used angels and demons to signify the people who were jealous of the couples love and blames their envy for her death. The Angels and Demons could also represent the people that didn't think it was right for family to get married to one another. Another line that can be used to support this claim is at the end of the poem Poe writes about the unbearable pain to be separated from his love and in real life after Virgina's death Poe struggled with alcohol and drug addiction.

Works Cited

"Annabel Lee Symbolism, Imagery & Wordplay." Shmoop: Study Guides & Teacher Resources. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2010. http://www.shmoop.com/annabel-lee/symbolism-imagery.html.

"Edgar Allan Poe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Main Page - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Allan_Poe.

"Edgar Allan Poe." www.kirjasto.sci.f N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2010. http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/eapoe.htm.

"Seraph - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Main Page - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Apr. 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seraph.

"Wind." University of Michigan. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Apr. 2010. .

Photo:

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