Annabel Lee

A detailed Summary of Annabel Lee


Edgar Allen Poe's "Annabel Lee" is a tale of mourning and lost love. Written beautifully and eloquently one can almost forget what the poem is actually saying. "Annabel Lee" is, at best, dark and depressing. But the first time it is read, and the second time, and the third time, for a few people, it is still proclaimed to be "pretty". But it is not just "pretty". It is deep, it is morbid, it is scary, it is definitely not just "pretty".

The first time "Annabel Lee" is read, it is almost carefree and childlike. In the second stanza, it is even written: "She was a child, and I was a child," (Poe, line7). Is Poe saying that their love was almost childlike in that they thought that no one could ever separate them? Were they naive and innocent as children always are? Maybe. But we find later on that he calls her his bride, and speaks of a love that certainly seems more then childish.

Poe writes that he and his Annabel Lee shared "a love that was more then just love" (Poe, line 9). Their love was so great, in fact, that the angels in Heaven were jealous of it. Hasn't that been said before to people in mourning? That the person they loved was taken from them because they were too beautiful/kind/loved etc. Poe believes that the re


ason she died was because the angels were so jealous of them and their love. So to ease their envy, they killed her. Perhaps this was the true reason for her death.

But wait! "the wind came out of the cloud, chilling and killing my Annabel Lee" (Poe, line 25&26). Could it also be inferred then, that Annabel Lee was kill by a simple cold or pneumonia? It was not uncommon in the 19th century to succumb to this fate. So maybe it wasn't a vengeful angel bent on murder...just a minor case of the common cold? It has been said in the past that some of what Poe writes in his morbid, gruesome stories is taken from his own tragic life. His own wife dying at a young age from pneumonia, Poe never really seems to recover. It can be observed even in Annabel Lee, traces of himself that Poe leaves behind for an avid reader to sniff out.

We can also observe the way in which the poem is written. The beginning of the poem starts off with only 6 lines or so per stanza. They are simple, sing-song almost. And if we look at the content, it is just like any other love poem. Starting stanza three however, the mood shifts abruptly from light and breezy to morbid and dark. Most credit for this is given to the words. But look at the arrangement of the stanza. The num

Some common words found in the essay are:
Annabel Lee, Lee Bonded, Lee Poe, annabel lee, Heaven Nor, poe line, annabel lee poe, dissever soul soul, soul beautiful annabel, soul soul beautiful, beautiful annabel lee, beginning poem, angels heaven, lee poe, soul soul, morbid gruesome, beautiful annabel, poe writes, soul beautiful,

Approximate Word count = 845
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

join now Save Paper

Related Essays

  • Annabel Lee Annabel Lee The poem amp39Annabel Leeamp39 can be classified as a poem in many different ways. Ballads became widely popular during the ... 664 words
  • Annabel Lee In Poeamp39s poem he describes his love for his lost wife, Annabel Lee. ... The seraphsamp39 jealousy caused them to take the life Annabel Lee. ... 351 words
  • The Poetry of Edgar Allen Poe ampamp Stantonamp39s Declaration: Compare ampquot ... ... Examining both \ampquotUlalume\ampquot and \ampquotAnnabel Lee\ampquot we can see specific textual evidence of the influence that grief had on Poe\amp39s poetic productions. ... 1651 words
  • Poeamp39s ... This is very prevalent in his poem ampquotAnnabel Leeampquot. The name Annabel Lee was most likely used, primarily, for its musical quality. ... 805 words
  • Edgar Allan Poe ... Poeamp39s best known works include such masterpieces as Annabel Lee, The Raven, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Mask of the Red Death, The Murders of the Rue ... 3502 words

Professional Essays

  • Influence of Poeamp39s Life on his Poetry ... She died eleven years later.ampquot Although it is well known that Poe wrote the poem ampquotAnnabel Leeampquot about his beloved lost bride, the influence of her loss upon his ... 1340 words
  • Edgar Allan Poe Preoccupation with Death ... Another poem written to a love lost to death is ampquotAnnabel Lee.ampquot Poe is here even more explicit about the role of death in taking the lover while the beauty of ... 2027 words
  • Life ampamp Works of Edgar Allan Poe ... classical age. In another famous Poe work, ampquotAnnabel Lee,ampquot we find the author looking back on the bygone age of childhood. The ampquotkingdom ... 1783 words
  • Poe ... In the famous poem wrote for her, Annabel Lee, we get to see this acceptance, And neither the Angels in heaven above,/Nor the demons down under the sea,/Can ... 1720 words
  • Edgar Allan Poe ... old cousin, Virginia Clemm, who died six years later from tuberculosis Edgar 2004, 1. One of Poes most famous poems, Annabel Lee, is directed to Clemm. ... 1122 words
  • Edgar Allan Poeamp39s Characters ... old cousin, Virginia Clemm, who died six years later from tuberculosis Edgar 2004, 1. One of Poes most famous poems, Annabel Lee, is directed to Clemm. ... 1122 words


Saved Paper

Save your papers so you can locate them quickly!

Newest Essays

Testimonials

  • "Thank You So Much!!! You have saved me once again!!!"
    Jack M.
  • "With so many papers to chose from, I was able to get ideas to help me with all of my classes. Thank You!"
    Brian P.
  • "I've used this site for the last 3 years to help me come up with ideas for my papers."
    Sara J.
  • "I use this site every week to help me write my own papers!"
    Rachel W.
  • "I love this site!!!"
    Marie N.
Home Join Now Support
Acceptable Use Policy About us FAQ
All papers are for research and reference purposes only!
© 2002-2009 DirectEssays.com. All Rights Reserved.