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 a 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.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Edgar Allan Poe's poem Annabel Lee

58 Comments

  1. Lori says:

    HE is a great great poet i love his work it is creepy but it has a thing of passion ,love, and mortality that realy jumps a me. i may not have read all his work but what i have read it seems to me he was a strange but fully understanding of the mortal limits of the soul or windows of the soul maybe.He saw all sides it seems of people palces and things in his work. I wonder if that is how he looked at life?

  2. Lena says:

    I think this is one of the most beautiful poems I have ever read. It’s so sad and so tragic that his wife died but he still loves her and dreams about her. We read this poem for English and I’ve loved it ever since.

  3. Marie says:

    I like his poems they are very creepy and I like that..I especially like the Pit and the Pendulum..I watched the movie in school.But for a guy whos mom was Beautiful and drop dead gorgous he is ugly. He died 2 days before my birthday haha!

  4. annabel says:

    hey guess what

    my name is annabel lee

    isn’t that cool?

    haha.

    no joke.

  5. sharon says:

    When my teacher took this poem for us to study, i started to feel that this peom is so meaningful. A man is love a girl name Annabel Lee, but now she was away from him. Even she was away from him, his love with her never disappeared from his feeling.

  6. Chan says:

    I had this poem for my writting final essay.
    Even though it was my first time looking at it,
    I liked the way he expressed his feelings
    and how he showed his enduring love toward his
    young wife.

  7. Kristin says:

    this is a poem written with integrity. it shows true love between edgar allan poe and his love.

  8. Linh says:

    This is a beautiful and heartwarming peom that will continue to reach out and touch people no matter what the age. It’s truly a masterpiece.

  9. liz says:

    this poem has been eating my 3 years.

  10. Michelle millington says:

    This poem is a leasson for all the people that feels that love can be the reason for living and that no matter if the person in death or not that the real love from the soul never forget the other persn. It was beatuful and more to see that the thru love exist.

  11. Michelle Millington says:

    This poem is a leasson for all the people that feels that love can be the reason for living and that no matter if the person in death or not that the real love from the soul never forget the other persn.
    It was beatuful and more to see that the thru love exist.

  12. Heather says:

    This poem is about warped love. It is overly emotional and dramatic as Romeo and Juliet. It is perverse and the speaker is completely irrational. Yes, it is a beautiful thought to still be loved after you die but this guy is sick. If someone you knew was sleeping on his dead wife’s grave everynight you would think how morbid and unhealthy. The guy is going mad and he doing to himself. He thinks by staying near her death does not matter. And he blames the angels for being jealous. Totally irrational and a serious perversion that lies in his heart. If this love to you than you have never been in love just obsessed.

  13. Emerald says:

    everytime i read this poem, my heart melts and reaches out wanting to grasp the everlasting love that permiates from poe’s words. the rhym sceme is so simple yet so powerful! the love he had for annabel was so strong that poe said the angels envied their love. i wonder if ill ever hav a love like that.

  14. camila says:

    This poem is an inspiration for all of those you believe in endless love. It is beatiful. O love it’s simplicity and at the same time it’s deepness.

  15. Milly says:

    My english teachers favorite poem is this, and I love it too. It gives great depth to the meaning of love, and the ryhmeing is sensational. I aspire to be a poet, and Edgar Allan Poe’s poem has definately inspired me to write great works, and I have a poem that actually is based on his. My teacher actually wrote it in to be published because she loved it, but I just love this poem so much, and if anyone has a poem I would LOVE to read it!

  16. Jolo says:

    i have read this poem once and since that, i decided to memorize it by heart. love can never be understood. moreover true love. but Poe, being the poetic genius that he is, came close to heavenly describing what an eternal love is.

  17. Melissa says:

    This is my favorite poem of all time. Poe was a brilliant man.

  18. Melissa says:

    I found an interpretation of this poem and found it to be very interesting, true or not, I don’t know, but none the less I like it. I definitly see the references and since I live in Charleston, and have been to this cemetery before, I may have to go back now to see if I can find anything. Anyways check out the link below (I hope it works).

    http://www.ghostsource.com/location.html

  19. Eder says:

    I read this poem in my English class.I just want to know how can a man love his wife so deeply!My friends mother died after her father died,for their true love!I really can’t understand .In my opinion lovers should live in a more happy life after the other dies……You can miss him/her,but never forfet the people around you and love you!

  20. Mena says:

    Poe is a poetic genius, this poem truly defines love and it’s toll on a soul.

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