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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 wingèd 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 highborn 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 by 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 her sepulchre there by the sea—
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

I bought a poetry book filled with Edgar Allen Poe's work. I had never read this one before and stumbled upon it while I was browsing through it. I love it so much! I used to read so many times so I could remember it.

Annabel Lee always puts me in mind of Sinead O'Connor singing "I am stretched on your grave" .... loved the poem since schooldays

Aelihe wrote:I bought a poetry book filled with Edgar Allen Poe's work. I had never read this one before and stumbled upon it while I was browsing through it. I love it so much! I used to read so many times so I could remember it.

I am happy to have brought it to you!

The very first time I ever read this I was in seventh grade and I couldn't decide if I thought it was romantic or creepy. Either way, it's one of my favorite poems

Creepy! Entirely creepy! But then, most of Poe's work was. I know he was a successful humorist before he became known for his horror, but it's hard to imagine.

anomalocaris wrote:Creepy! Entirely creepy! But then, most of Poe's work was. I know he was a successful humorist before he became known for his horror, but it's hard to imagine.

I don't feel like this poem is creepy at all. It's a romantic notion to me. Love lasts on forever.
As for not being able to imagine him as a humorist...comedy, in and of itself, is a tragedy.

"Funny had better be sad somewhere."-Jerry Lewis.

Comedians are some of the most dark and desturbed of us.
It takes alot of damage to make a person go " huh, I think I'll go make people laugh at me today".
Comedy, no matter how innocent, is a raw, bloody wound in the comedians life.

Just what I've observed.

Edgar Allen Poe, one of the writers on a very short list of mine that terrify me, although I do like his poems which is very peculiar because I don't really like to read poetry very much. I like this one very much though.

One of my very favorite poems. I memorized it waaaaaaaaaaay back in high school and can still recite it perfectly.

Poe was truly a genius wordsmith. His poem, The Bells is universally considered the finest "sound poem" in the English language. It is appropriate that this forum is titled Poetry & Music where this poem (Annabel Lee) is concerned because its lyricism and meter approach the characteristics of music.

Beautiful, beautiful poem. Haunting. Haven't read it in too long. Thanks for posting.

One of my faves. It's probably on my top 10 list...which is 40% Poe!

Edgar Allan Poe is my favorite author and Annabel Lee is my favorite poem of all time! I love it. Next week I start my next class, studies in poetry. I'm really looking forward to it. Annabel Lee is such a romantic poem. I've loved it since 7th grade. It's so beautiful.

I love Edgar Allan Poe and I don't mean I'm just a fan of his work, no, no, I mean that if this man were to come to life, walk down the street, and still be recognizable, I probably wouldn't mind being bitten and turned into a zombie just for the sake of meeting him. I love this poem, and I soak up the joy of some band covering it as a song, which is why I too bought a book containing the words and poetry of Edgar Allan Poe.
It's just sad and messed up that it's about the death of his child bride who he'd been married to for thirteen years and whose life was taken by the very same disease that stole his first love, birth and adoptive mother away from him too.

Though I've been a fan of Poe since I first stumbled upon 'The Black Cat' - I have to admit, it took me a while to learn to love this poem. I'm not entirely sure why. Maybe something about the way it was being taught. But as the years have passed, it's become a favorite of mine. It's just so gorgeous and reads so beautifully aloud.

Edgar Allen pose I one of favorite authors of all time, and this is is definitely one of his best poems. However, I have always liked "a dream within a dream" more. If you haven't read it then I would definetly recommend it. It is very short compared to most of his work, but it still gave me chills the first time I stumbled upon it.