Annabel Lee Analysis
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Edgar Allan Poe is a master at writing romantic poetry. I chose his poem called, Annabel Lee mostly because it was catchy. As much as he was into dark poetry, Poe loved to do poetry on the beauty of a woman. It seems as though for him the beauty of a woman came at the end of life. Annabel Lee was written in 1849. It speaks about the death of a young woman and was originally addressed to his wife Virginia. This poem is one of Edgar Allan Poes most popular writing on the basis that Annabel is pure love and beauty.
The poem's stanzas have an irregular length and structure. There are a total of six stanzas in this poem where there are six lines and three have eight lines. The rhyme scheme emphasizes the three words "me," "Lee," and "sea. This rhyming pattern is only seen in the shorter lines, whereas the longer lines may or may not rhyme. This poem seems more like a song because of the repetition and rhyming in every other line. Poe mixes iamb and anapest in this piece. The iamb meter would be the shorter lines stating, In the Kingdom by the Sea. An anapest meter in this piece would be, For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams. That the wind came out of the cloud by night is the only line in Poes poem to contain alliteration.
Edgar Allen Poe's poem "Annabel Lee" represents a peaceful place by the sea until the death of Annabel Lee. Annabel Lee is the main symbol in the poem. Annabel Lee is possibly a pseudonym for Poes late wife. The poem begins with an introduction of Annabel Lee and the obsession of her lover. "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" (line 5). She is the apple of the narrators eye. It seems as though the narrator is infatuated with this person because he believes she has no other thoughts but of him. The love is so strong that the angels kill her out of jealousy. Of the beautiful Annabel Lee is like an echo to show despair for the lost of his childhood love. The narrator wants her back, but the wind represents life that has been taken by death. The setting is in the kingdom by the sea at the time of the narrators youth.
Because of Poes love for the beauty of a woman in death, he expresses it time and again. Annabel Lee has become very popular among poetry readers. Even with the rhyme scheme being irregular, Poe was still able to create a beautiful piece within these lines of repetition. With Annabel Lee representing pure love in youth, it shows the perils of adult love involving jealousy of time goes on. This poem also shows a bad side where even in death a loved will do anything to stay close in some cases going crazy. All and all this poem was well worth the read.
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