Annabel Lee
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.
She was a child and I was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was more than love--
I and my Annabel Lee--
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.
And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud by night
Chilling my Annabel Lee;
So that her high-born kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.
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 a cloud, chilling
And killing my Annabel Lee.
But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we--
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in Heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee:--
For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I see the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea--
In her tomb by the side of the sea.
Commentary
Back to the movies theme, here’s a guest poem sent in by Mallika Chellappa
This poem has to its credit (to my knowledge) two cinematic references.
One was a short chocolate box feature with a young couple picnicking on the sea shore, with the poem recited in the background. I didn’t pay any attention to the credits.
The other was “Play Misty for me” the 1971 precursor to “Fatal Attraction”, with Clint Eastwood, Donna Mills, and Jessica Walter, who, as Evelyn, takes on the name of Annabel in the movie. This was Eastwood’s directorial debut.
Actully, this poem is very much in Poe’s obsession vein - a la “The Raven” and all his horror stories. I can’t say it’s really one of my favourites, unlike the Raven, which is. However, the cinematography of the short feature film was superb.
— Mallika
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From the Wondering Minstrels mailing list, 1999–2008.
Amulya Gopalakrishnan · 11 February 2003
this poem also inspired nabokov’s nymphet- humbert’s childhood love, annabel leigh.
Daniel A Thompson Jr · 1 May 2005
When I learned this poem, the last line was:
“In her tomb by the sounding sea.”
As the theme of today’s poem [May 1, 2005] was “poems that you memorized in school,” I immediately thought of this work, and found it in the archives. One of the finest poems Poe ever wrote, but so like much of his work, so incredibly sad.
Take care,
Dan Thompson
My sources are unreliable, but their information is fascinating.
Sammy Vanek · 6 February 2007
there is a stanza missing…
Sarah Keller · 29 June 2007
Annabel Lee is also featured in D.W. Griffith’s 1914 wonderfully strange silent film The Avenging Conscience.