“Annabel Lee” Introduction

• Read the full text of “Annabel Lee”

“Annabel Lee” Summary

“Annabel Lee” Themes

• 

  Love

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• 

  Death and Grief

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Annabel Lee”

• Lines 1-4

  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;

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-6

  And this maiden she lived with no other thought 
     Than to love and be loved by me. 

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 7-12

  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.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-20

  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 sepulchre 
     In this kingdom by the sea.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 21-26

  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.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 27-33

  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;

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 34-41

  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 sepulchre there by the sea— 
     In her tomb by the sounding sea.

  

  

  

  

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“Annabel Lee” Symbols

• 

  The Natural World

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“Annabel Lee” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Paradox

  

  

  

  

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• Refrain

  

  

  

  

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• Pathetic Fallacy

  

  

  

  

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• Parallelism

  

  

  

  

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• Sibilance

  

  

  

  

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• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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• Hyperbole

  

  

  

  

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• Allusion

  

  

  

  

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• Consonance

  

  

  

  

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• Diacope

  

  

  

  

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• Epizeuxis

  

  

  

  

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• Antimetabole

  

  

  

  

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• Anaphora

  

  

  

  

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• Apostrophe

  

  

  

  

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“Annabel Lee” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Maiden
• Wingéd seraphs
• Coveted
• Highborn kinsmen
• Bore
• Sepulchre
• Envying
• Dissever
• Beams
• Night-tide

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Annabel Lee”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Annabel Lee” Speaker

“Annabel Lee” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Annabel Lee”

More “Annabel Lee” Resources

• External Resources

  • Poe's Letters — A collection of Poe's correspondence. 

  • Joan Baez — A musical setting of the poem by 60s legend Joan Baez.

  • Radio Documentary — A BBC documentary looking at Poe's life and work.

  • More poems and biography — Poetry Foundation resources on Poe.

  • A Reading — The poem read by Garrison Keillor.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Edgar Allan Poe

  • A Dream Within a Dream

  • Alone

  • Sonnet to Science

  • The Conqueror Worm

  • To Helen