"Annabel Lee" is the last poem composed by Edgar Allan Poe, one of the foremost figures of American literature. It was written in 1849 and published not long after the author's death in the same year. It features a subject that appears frequently in Poe's writing: the death of a young, beautiful woman. The poem is narrated by Annabel Lee's lover, who forcefully rails against the people—and supernatural beings—who tried to get in the way of their love. Ultimately, the speaker claims that his bond with Annabel Lee was so strong that, even after her death, they are still together.
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The Full Text of “Annabel Lee”
1It was many and many a year ago,
2 In a kingdom by the sea,
3That a maiden there lived whom you may know
4 By the name of Annabel Lee;
5And this maiden she lived with no other thought
6 Than to love and be loved by me.
7I was a child and she was a child,
8 In this kingdom by the sea,
9But we loved with a love that was more than love—
10 I and my Annabel Lee—
11With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven
12 Coveted her and me.
13And this was the reason that, long ago,
14 In this kingdom by the sea,
15A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
16 My beautiful Annabel Lee;
17So that her highborn kinsmen came
18 And bore her away from me,
19To shut her up in a sepulchre
20 In this kingdom by the sea.
21The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
22 Went envying her and me—
23Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,
24 In this kingdom by the sea)
25That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
26 Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.
27But our love it was stronger by far than the love
28 Of those who were older than we—
29 Of many far wiser than we—
30And neither the angels in Heaven above
31 Nor the demons down under the sea
32Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
33 Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
34For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
35 Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
36And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
37 Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
38And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
39 Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
40 In her sepulchre there by the sea—
41 In her tomb by the sounding sea.
The Full Text of “Annabel Lee”
1It was many and many a year ago,
2 In a kingdom by the sea,
3That a maiden there lived whom you may know
4 By the name of Annabel Lee;
5And this maiden she lived with no other thought
6 Than to love and be loved by me.
7I was a child and she was a child,
8 In this kingdom by the sea,
9But we loved with a love that was more than love—
10 I and my Annabel Lee—
11With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven
12 Coveted her and me.
13And this was the reason that, long ago,
14 In this kingdom by the sea,
15A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
16 My beautiful Annabel Lee;
17So that her highborn kinsmen came
18 And bore her away from me,
19To shut her up in a sepulchre
20 In this kingdom by the sea.
21The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
22 Went envying her and me—
23Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,
24 In this kingdom by the sea)
25That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
26 Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.
27But our love it was stronger by far than the love
28 Of those who were older than we—
29 Of many far wiser than we—
30And neither the angels in Heaven above
31 Nor the demons down under the sea
32Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
33 Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
34For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
35 Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
36And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
37 Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
38And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
39 Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
40 In her sepulchre there by the sea—
41 In her tomb by the sounding sea.
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“Annabel Lee” Summary
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“Annabel Lee” Themes
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Love
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Death and Grief
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Annabel Lee”
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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; -
Lines 5-6
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me. -
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. -
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. -
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. -
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; -
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
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The Natural World
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“Annabel Lee” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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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”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Annabel Lee” Speaker
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“Annabel Lee” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Annabel Lee”
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More “Annabel Lee” Resources
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External Resources
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Poe's Letters — A collection of Poe's correspondence.
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Joan Baez — A musical setting of the poem by 60s legend Joan Baez.
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Radio Documentary — A BBC documentary looking at Poe's life and work.
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More poems and biography — Poetry Foundation resources on Poe.
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A Reading — The poem read by Garrison Keillor.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Edgar Allan Poe
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