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.
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Public domain (US)·No sign-up·DRM-free·Real text, not scans
Copyright note. Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe is believed to be in the public domain in the United States only. It may still be copyrighted in other countries. If you are not in the United States, please check your local laws to ensure this eBook is in the public domain in your country before downloading Annabel Lee in PDF or EPUB.
- Reading time
- 3 minutes
- Pace
- slow
- First published
- 1849
- Language
- English
177 years later, still timely
Why Read Annabel Lee Today?
A bereaved speaker insists that love survives every power set against it. Poe's repetitions and sea-bound imagery make the poem both a song of devotion and an unsettling act of insistence.
Today's connection
Read aloud for the tension between musical beauty and possessive certainty. The speaker's account invites sympathy without requiring readers to accept every explanation he offers.
A returning refrain
Repetition makes grief audible.
A coastal dream
The setting hovers outside ordinary time.
Love and insistence
Devotion presses against its own limits.
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About the author
Edgar Allan Poe
Precision of mood and method that invents detective logic and the claustrophobia of obsession.
