Edgar Allan Poe's "Annabel Lee"

Edgar Allen Poe’s “Annabel Lee” was written under the influence of Dark Romanticism which simply shows the world from a pessimistic perspective. However, the first stanza of the poem is like a love story that comes straight out of a fairy tale since there is a kingdom and a maiden who is in love with the speaker. Poe, in “The Philosophy of Composition”, mentions that creating a profound effect that is memorable for the reader is significant. Therefore, he uses assonance, alliteration and repetition in order to affect the readers and let their emotions come into play. Throughout the poem, the speaker repeats “Annabel Lee” and “in a kingdom by the sea” to stress his eternal love to Annabel. As he lives in the past and cannot move on, the speaker uses sea as a metaphor implying his memories.

Although the poem begins as if it had a happy ending, “Annabel Lee” has a sad tone that is emphasized with “s” sounds since the speaker feels nostalgia for his lover. By use of alliteration in the first stanza, “l” sounds contributing the poem’s musicality are repeated with the words “live”, “love” and “Lee”. These words are stressed as the speaker cannot cope with the death of his lover. The first line of the poem, “it was many and a many year ago”, puts an emphasis on the “a” sounds which creates a memorable effect for the reader.

The poem also creates a certain rhyme that makes it flow like a song by use of assonance and alliteration. To give an example, both assonances, with “i” sounds, and rhymes are used in the lines “…all the night tide, I lie down by the side” and “…my life and my bride”. The speaker and Annabel defined as a maiden are innocent children having deep and pure feelings for one another. However, there is a psychological conflict in the poem like the other examples of gothic literature. Showing his psychological problems, the speaker says the reason behind Annabel’s death is the jealousy of the angels. In a confused state of mind, the speaker reveals at the end of the poem that every night he lies down beside the sepulcher of Annabel with whom he is obsessively in love. After all those years, the persona making irrational explanations in a childish manner still cannot deal with the realities of life.