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 wingèd 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 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 her sepulchre there by the sea—
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
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It is the sadness that is shared by many in a world where everyone just says bury your feelings and go on.
That is my favorite poem of Edgar Allan Poe.
My seventh grade English class memorized this poem. The lines I remember most: “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”
I mean, come on, “dissever”? Amazing.
I recently read this and some other works by Poe. I was submitting poems to poetry soup. I even stole one of his styles, his styles, his styles. Poe is unique, to me its better to be unique than an excellent writer. So few of us. 😉
Truly one of my favorites as well. My foster mom wanted me to understand that placement and style were equally as critical as the words themselves.
And now everybody knows, Poe wrote with a cat on his shoulders.
This is one of my favorites, I loved it the first time I read it and it is what made me become a Poe fan. It was after Anabelle Lee I discovered Conqueror Worm my favorite of Poe
I love this poem. It is too bad when I teach it, it is overshadowed by “The Raven.” I think I liked the latter a lot better when younger, but have grown to appreciate “Annabel Lee” a lot more now as an adult.