Annabel Lee

Annabel Lee

  • Submitted By: teabee
  • Date Submitted: 07/28/2008 7:54 PM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 450
  • Page: 2
  • Views: 727

If Edgar Allan Poe’s reader’s in 1849 were searching for something to quench their dismal thirsts, than his usual melancholy vibe, gothic elements, and premature death of a beautiful girl must have been most satisfying with his poem “Annabel Lee.” But if his readers were hoping for a refreshing change of matter and mood, they could not have been disappointed either. In “Annabel Lee,” we, the readers again experience that despondency that comes hand in hand with lost love. Yet unlike other works of Poe, such as, “The Raven,” where the narrator and Poe seem to revel in their misery and loneliness, “Annabel Lee,” does not leave the reader feeling as discouraged. The child-like love and stubborn conviction heard through the voice in the poem, gives off a strong sensation of naivety, and a sense of purity. Certain lines illustrate these tones and emphasize what the speaker is trying to convey. This allows, “Annabel Lee,” to be an Edgar Allan Poe poem that for once, gives the reader a sense of hopefulness.
The child-like affection begins early in the poem. The narrator’s exclusive love for Annabel in line 6, is reminiscent of young child’s unwillingness to admit that their mother or other loved-one could have any feelings for anyone else. Another indicator of youthfulness is seen in the seventh line of the poem, where the voice actually states that both he and Annabel were children when they first fell in love. By including this, Poe could have been justifying the tone that he used in the poem. The voice continues on to tell us that Annabel Lee’s death was caused by the jealousy of the Angels. This idea itself is radically imaginative and child-like. Following shortly, the narrator gives the reader some incite. He tells us again how their love for each other was stronger than any other love, stronger than people older and wiser the he. Here the voice acknowledges that he has not lived very long, and is not the wisest of human beings. Signifying this, helps...

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