Interview
Poetry: Annabel Lee
- Institution
- 8th Grade
This document provides an in-depth analysis of the poem Annabel Lee.
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Annabelby Lee
Edgar
Allan Remember:
A poem is a
composition in verse. It
Annabel Lee Poe paints pictures by
means of poetic devices
such as figurative
BY EDGAR ALLAN POE
language, rhythm and
rhyme.
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
Many years ago, there was a kingdom by the sea.
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
In this kingdom lived a young woman called Annabel Lee, whom the speaker suggests
the reader might know.
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
According to the narrator, Annabel Lee’s only thought was the love between
herself and the man of her dreams.
This poem begins exactly like a fairy tale, telling us that the story we are about to
hear happened "many a year ago" in a "kingdom by the sea."
These little details are important, because the sea and this old kingdom will be big
images in the poem.
Even more important though, is Annabel Lee. She's the title character, and she's
Page | 1
, the reason the poem exists.
The speaker introduces her in the third line by calling her a "maiden," which lets us
know that she is young (and probably attractive), but which also keeps up the fairy-
tale feel of the first few lines.
(You might think of her as being a little like a Disney princess, although as you'll
see, this poem is way too dark to be a Disney movie.)
Finally, the speaker tells us the key fact of this poem, which is that he and Annabel
Lee were in love. So much in love that it was the only thing that mattered to either
of them.
I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea,
Both of the characters were only children.
But we loved with a love that was more than love—
I and my Annabel Lee—
These children’s love went well beyond what love can normally be.
With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.
In fact, their love was so special that the angels in heaven were jealous and
desirous of it.
In this stanza the speaker lets us know that both he and Annabel Lee were young
when this happened. Not teenagers even, but kids: "I was a child and she was a
child."
This lets us know just how rare and special their love was, but it also tips us off
that maybe there's something not quite right here.
He also repeats the line: "in the kingdom by the sea." This reminds us where we
are, but also creates the hypnotic, repeating effect that Poe loves.
It's the same trick he uses in the next line, when he tells us that he and Annabel
"loved with a love that was more than love." He wants to let us know that their love
was special and intense, even though they were so young.
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