Written Explaination of Annabel Lee

Brazil Jimenez & Ashlee Zwahlen AP Lit Period 4
Written Explanation The poem "Annabel Lee", written by Edgar Allan Poe, expresses mainly the emotion love. But also inscribed within it is grief, sadness, death, and jealousy. "Annabel Lee" consists of six stanzas, three with six lines, one with seven, and two with eight, with the rhyme pattern differing slightly in each one. The poem uses repetition and rhyme numerously as well as a pattern flow purposely to create its mournful effect. The poem appears like an ocean shore, the lines of the poem are long, then shorten, lengthen, then shortened again. The pattern changes after Annabel Lee's death is done being discussed, displaying a change of fate, or a change of what was expected. In the first line, "It was many and many a year ago..." it indicated that the poem is telling a story. The first stanza is fairly obvious, basically telling the background of the story. Instead of being referred to as a woman, Annabel Lee is a "maiden". Likely to express the innocence of the situation and the purity of the woman. It was obvious in the poem that the narrator was in love with this "maiden" and she loved him. In the following stanza, "I was a child and she was a child", is debated in meaning. Some believe that because of this line, it indicates the poem was about a lover when the narrorator was younger. However, the line only enlightens that their love was childlike, and when stating that they were children, it meant that they were innocent. When the narrator stated, "But we loved with a love that was more than love", it meant that though they were young, they loved with such an intensity, it seemed to create a new level of loving. In the last lines of the stanza, "With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven/Coveted her and me." it introduced a problem. That the seraphs envied the strong relationship, and it foreshadows an issue. The third stanza is the issue itself. In this stanza, Annabel Lee became severely ill and died. Her family took her away, and she was buried "In this kingdom by the sea." The fourth stanza is basically the narrator contemplating the death, and the reason behind it. He concludes that the angels in heaven were the cause of the "wind" that killed his Annabel Lee. The lines, "That the wind came out of the cloud by night/Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee." created more debates on the poem's meaning.

ANNABELLE LEE Author: Edgar Allan Poe
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;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
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 winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.
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 kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulcher
In this kingdom by the sea.
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.
But our love 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.
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 the sepulcher there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Old Man: 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;

Anna: I'm Annabel Lee, I wish someone would love me.

Old Man: 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 -

Boy: I, and my Annabel Lee

Anna: Babe, I love you so much

Boy: I love you more

Anna: No way, I love you so much that even these angles are all jealous and stuff.

Boy: I hope they aren't jealous enough to cast a mighty wind to take you away into the sea and kill you or anything..

Anna: Gosh, me too.

Old Man: And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
(while boy weeps while Anna goes into the sea forever)My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulcher
In this kingdom by the sea.
The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me

Boy: Damn you and your jealousy! Murderers!!!!!!!!

(boy plays a sappy breakup song, and cries for months, person walks by with different months on a paper)

Old Man: After crying for what seemed like forever, the boy realized that their love was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than them
Of many far wiser than them
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Could ever dissever his soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.
For the moon never beams without bringing him dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

Boy: (boy picks up flowers, and crosses over the sea where Anna's body is lost)
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride,
In the sepulcher there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.