'Annabel Lee': Summary & Interpretation

Annabel Lee

By: 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 kinsmen 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 mean 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 her sepulchre there by the sea-

In her tomb by the sounding sea.

The speaker of the poem begins the story by fairytale like descriptions of the atmosphere, which includes a "kingdom by the sea". We are introduced to Annabel Lee, whom the story is written about. In stanza two, the speaker tells us about the mature love he and Annabel Lee share, even though they are just children. Soon enough, the story takes a dark turn, which is a Poe specialty. The angels become jealous of their love, and result to killing Annabel Lee. As the "highborn kinsmen" take her away, you get a feeling their love was not welcomed by all. But, the speaker is so sure of their love, saying it is stronger than "those who were older than we" and "far wiser than we". In the last stanza, we are brought into the present as the speaker continues to compare his eternal love for Annabel Lee as he is laid down to rest next to her.

The more I read this poem, the more I become infatuated with it. To me it screams classic Poe, detailing a dark and mysterious story about death, all wrapped up and tied with a tragic long-lost love bow. What more could you want? All right, I know everyone is not the biggest fan of Poe, but I think most people can actually relate to this story (even romantics and nature lovers) if you don't read too much into it and interpret it a little bit differently. For example, we have all had heartbreak that has gone awry. You're floating right along; completely smitten by some guy or girl, but you're in your own little young and naive world (stanza 1 and 2). Then comes the heartbreak, leaving your completely devastated (stanza 3). You start questioning yourself and fumble for reasons of why it happened, or how did it get to this point (stanza 4 and 5). All the while you are bearing this misery, you slowly realize how everything around you reminds you of him or her (stanza 6). All right, that might be a little bit dramatic but you get the idea.

Do you have any special interpretations of your favorite writer's work?