Poe Fridays

Annabel Lee

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.

She was a child and I 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 by night,
Chilling my Annabel Lee;
So that her high-born kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
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, chilling
And killing my Annabel Lee.

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.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I see 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 side of the sea.





Once again, no one can create a mood like Poe. His rhymes are so hypnotic, and have an almost dance-like quality to them - I can feel the meter in my head. I remember in college talking about poets choosing words for their SOUND, as well as their meaning, and I think Poe certainly does that.

I think part of the reason I enjoy Poe so much is that I feel like I GET what he writes about - often, I feel like poetry has some deep, hidden meaning that is obscured from me, but I always leave Poe with the sense that I know what he is talking about, even if it's not what he actually meant. In this case, his use of light and dark as metaphors - the kingdom is bright, the kinsman come with darkness - tell me that his love is a beautiful place, and despite the fact that others in the world try to snuff out his happiness, they can't touch the love he bears.


Next week, we get to read our first story - The Tell Tale Heart. I don't think I've read this since I was a little girl, and my dad read it to me out of my Illustrated Classics for Kids book. Wonder what will be different?



Poe Friday is hosted by Kristen at We Be Reading. Stop by and read more!