Poe Fridays: Annabel Lee

I'm a little late in getting this posted, but I figured better late than never, right?!?! This week over at We Be Reading: Poe Friday's is Annabel Lee. This is one of my favorite pieces by Poe. For those that have never read it or for those that need a refresher, here is the poem in its entirety.

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.

I was a child and she 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, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her high-born kinsmen 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 the cloud one night,
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 feel 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 the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

I love the way this poem sounds, especially when read aloud. It has a rhyme and rhythm that I believe to be perfect . . . almost an obsession of Annabel Lee that has formed in Poe's mind. It's rather catchy, to put it simply!

Rumor has it that this poem was actually written about his very young bride that died a few years earlier from tuberculosis. Whether true or not, I think that whomever this poem was written for, you can tell that the love was strong. The love could conquer "those who were older" and "many far wiser" and even angels and demons could not separate their souls . . . rather endearing . . . in a way!!

What do you think?

Next Week: The Tell-Tale Heart (another favorite of mine!)