Annabel Lee

Annabel Lee is a poem written by Edgar Allan Poe and first published in 1849, shortly after the author's death.

The poem is narrated by a man who remembers his childhood love for Annabel Lee, a young woman who lived with him in a distant "kingdom by the sea." Their love is described as so powerful that even the angels envy it, but their happiness ends when Annabel Lee suddenly dies.

The narrator believes that supernatural forces caused her death because of the strength of their love. Even after losing her, he insists that neither death nor heaven can separate their souls, and he continues to feel deeply connected to her.

Through its musical language and haunting imagery, Annabel Lee explores love, loss, memory, and the persistence of devotion beyond death, themes that appear frequently throughout Poe's poetry.

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.