The poem “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allen Poe uses poetic elements such as rhyme, repetition and imagery to create its mournful tone. The language and tone of the poem brilliantly shows the narrator’s resentment towards the malicious forces that took his love away. Poe uses imagery to describe the death of Annabel Lee as well as the emphasis on the letter "L," in her name, a reoccurring practice in Poe's female characters such as "Eulalie," "Lenore," and "Ulalume.” An additional motif that appears in Poe’s work is the death of a gorgeous young woman by a fatal illness. To add to this motif, is another the occurrence of a marriage at an extremely young age. One thing that differentiates in this poem compared to Poe’s other poems, is the positive outlook of the narrator. Compared to “The Raven” in which the narrator is convinced that he will “nevermore” be brought back together with his love, here he believes that they will once again be united and even demons “can ever dissever” their souls from each other (32).
A main element of this poem is rhyme. Poe’s methodical device is the end rhyme that takes place every other sentence. The sentences that rhyme with each other are most important to the poem, because they define the setting as well as remind the readers of the two people in love. The first stanza is a perfect example of how Poe uses rhyme to draw attention to the significant information in the poem.
“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.”
The formal rhyme scheme of ABCBDB is also occurs in lines twenty-one through twenty six and is used to put the horrendous act of killing Annabel Lee into perspective for the readers.
“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...