Edgar Allen Poe's "Annabel Lee", critical analysis essay

Essay by tjryuCollege, UndergraduateB-, February 2007

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Edgar Allen Poe's poem "Annabel Lee" represents the ill-fated termination of Annabel Lee. The poem begins by with an introduction of Annabel Lee and the deep love a man feels for her. "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" (line 5). In the first verse we are introduced to the pure love this man feels for Annabel Lee.

Unfortunately, we learn that he is not the only one who feels for Annabel Lee, "With a love that the winged seraphs in Heaven coveted her and me" (line 10). The Winged Seraphs in heavens was envious of the man because they also desired Annabel Lee. The angels desire for the lovely Annabel Lee is a saying, which indicates that the death is about to happen, and that the lord and the male relatives in her family demand her presence in the heavens.

"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 high-born kinsmen came and bore her away from me, to shut her up in a sepulcher, in this kingdom by the sea" (line 20). The chilling wind, representing the angels, has come down and taken Annabel Lee.

The man unable to forget his love for Annabel Lee continues to feel for her even though she is gone. "But our love it was stronger by far than the love Of those who were older than we--Of many far wiser than we--"(line 27). Despite of her death, he expresses his love for her by caressing, holding, and...