Commentary on Annabel Lee Essay

Annabel Lee

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams/ And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes/ Of the beautiful Annabel Lee (34, 36-37). In the poem Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe the speaker is grieving over the loss of true love. Annabel Lee is part poem; part fairy tale and a classic love story complete with a signature dark twist of Edgar Allan Poe.

The speaker begins the poem by noting the story takes place many and many a year ago/In a kingdom by the sea, (1-2) giving a fairy tale tone. Poe gives elements of the classic fairy tale but he twists it to make his own. Poes version could be called backwards from the classic version. The classic fairy tale has two lovers searching for one another after great suffering and the prince saving the damsel then living happily ever after. The beginning is filled with love and happiness, love innocent and pure much like a childs love. It isnt until the third stanza we see the tragedy that changes everything, Annabel Lees death. In every fairy tale there is an evil villain keeping the lovers apart, Poes villain is the symbol of good; Angels.

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 chilling

And killing my Annabel Lee, (21-26)

Some may believe it is a desperate man trying to make sense of tragedy, others may believe it is the cycle of a classic love story.

The speaker in Annabel Lee insisted they, loved with a love that was more than love, (9) a love that would never end. When Annabel Lee dies the speaker cannot believe it is an accident, not with a love as strong as theirs. The speaker blames the angels in Heaven because he cannot accept the reality that she is gone. He suffers her loss for many years, seeing her everywhere, until the day he lies by the side of his bride. It is this strong love that makes Annabel Lee a classic love story.

Poe gives us a look in his heart with this poem he wrote after his wife died. Annabel Lee showing the pain of his true loves death. Poe does not give his love story a classic fairy tale ending, but he does reunite the lovers.