Poem Response 24

Annabel Lee

-Edgar Allen 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 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 by night,
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 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 sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea

Found at: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/annabel-lee/

This is SUCH a good poem! It’s so sad yet so beautiful at the same time… Edgar Allen Poe is pretty good about writing sad stuff. He’s sort of a downer. But he does write so beautifully that it does make up for his bad habit of killing people off!

“But the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee”

I just love that…

There’s something unique about missing someone when you know you can’t see them. Death is one of those things… even for Christians who have the promise of “one day” seeing them again, knowing that they aren’t going to be there until that day? It seems like every inanimate object tries its best to fill up the place that they once took.

That seems to be what he is feeling in this poem. All of his surroundings are calling to him in a way that she once did; reminding him of the place she once filled. It’s so sad, yet, at the same time it is… right.

If you’re someone worth remembering, then when you’re gone, I think the people you leave behind should have the whole world trying to fill up the hole that you alone complete.

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