Nicholas Barrero-Pinzon

English 11

2 May 2019

Mr. Barazzuol

Annabel Lee: Edgar Allan Poe’s Tragic Love Story

Edgar Allan Poe lived an odd life, which influenced many of his literary works, especially those that deal with love and loss. The poem, “Annabel Lee,” by Edgar Allan Poe includes various references to people and places in Edgar Allan Poe’s life.

In the poem, the narrator talks about how he was madly in love with Annabel Lee, whom he has known since they were children. The angels in heaven become jealous of their love, and they send a mighty wind to kill Annabel Lee. The narrator says the angels cannot stop their love and says he lies next to her grave every night. The poem deals with themes of true love and loss, and how one tends to blame the gods when there is no real culprit. This poem is Edgar Allan Poe’s way of telling others about how he felt after the death of his wife, Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe. The speaker can be considered as being disconnected from reality, which noticeably reflects the way Poe himself was erratic and odd.

One can find plenty of metaphors throughout the poem, such as how the story takes place, “in a kingdom by the sea,” (2). The kingdom can be considered as representing Fordham, New York, where she was originally buried. Other possible metaphors include Annabel Lee, who represents Poe’s wife, Virginia Poe, and the wind, which could be meant to represent the fact that Virginia died due to an uncontrollable disease, Tuberculosis. The reader can find some personification in the poem, such as when, “the wind came out of the cloud by night, / Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee,” (25, 26). The speaker shows that he blames an outside force, the wind, for killing his wife. The speaker knows it was something uncontrollable but still gives it human characteristics so he can have someone to blame. The poem contains repetition in the forms of, “Beautiful Annabel Lee,” (4, 10, 16, 26, 33, 35, 37) and, “kingdom by the sea,” (2, 8, 14, 20, 24). Repetition is used to emphasize that the poem is about Annabel Lee, highlighting the speaker’s obsession with her. It also highlights the importance of the kingdom by the sea, with it being where the speaker met and lived with Annabel Lee, and where Annabel Lee died and was buried.

Annabel Lee is a poem that, when researched, gives the reader a glimpse into Edgar Allan Poe’s love life, making it a very interesting read. The reader is able to see how deep Edgar Allan Poe’s love was for Virginia Poe and how he felt like only the angels had been able to take her away from him.