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Annabel Lee

by Edgar Allan Poe · 1849 · 1分で読めます · 41行

要点

“Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe is a poem about a speaker’s love for a young woman and his grief after her death. He begins by recalling their childhood in a kingdom beside the sea, where he says their love made even heavenly angels jealous. A cold wind comes from a cloud, and Annabel Lee dies; her noble relatives carry her away to a tomb. The speaker repeats his belief that the angels caused her death, then insists that neither angels nor demons can separate their souls. In the closing lines, moonlight brings dreams of her, and stars remind him of her eyes. He ends by describing how he lies beside his beloved in her seaside tomb through the night.

It was many and many a year ago,In a kingdom by the sea,That a maiden lived whom you may knowBy the name of ANNABEL LEE;—And this maiden she lived with no other thoughtThan 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 wingéd seraphs of HeavenCoveted 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 nightChilling my ANNABEL LEE;So that her high-born kinsmen cameAnd bore her away from me,To shut her up, in a sepulchreIn 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, chillingAnd killing my ANNABEL LEE.
But our love it was stronger by far than the loveOf those who were older than we—Of many far wiser than we—And neither the angels in Heaven aboveNor the demons down under the seaCan ever dissever my soul from the soulOf the beautiful ANNABEL LEE:—
For the moon never beams without bringing me dreamsOf the beautiful ANNABEL LEE;And the stars never rise but I see the bright eyesOf the beautiful ANNABEL LEE;And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the sideOf my darling, my darling, my life and my brideIn her sepulchre there by the sea—In her tomb by the side of the sea.

行ごとの意味の解説

1行目から6行目: The speaker introduces Annabel Lee and places their story in a distant past beside the sea. He describes her life as devoted entirely to their mutual love. The unnamed kingdom and repeated sounds give the opening the simple, memorable quality of an old tale.

7行目から12行目: Both lovers were children, but the speaker presents their love as extraordinary rather than immature. He claims that even the angels wanted what they had. This comparison lifts their relationship above ordinary human experience while introducing jealousy as a threat.

13行目から20行目: The speaker connects the angels’ jealousy to a night wind that chills Annabel Lee. Her high-born relatives then take her away and place her in a tomb. The movement from shared love to physical separation makes the loss sudden, while the repeated seaside setting holds the story together.

21行目から26行目: The speaker repeats and strengthens his explanation: unhappy, envious angels sent the fatal wind. Here he states directly that Annabel Lee died. His insistence that everyone knows the reason makes his claim sound certain, though the poem gives this explanation through his voice alone.

27行目から33行目: The speaker answers death with a declaration that their love exceeds that of older, wiser people. He imagines powers above and below them, from heavenly angels to underwater demons, but denies that any can separate their souls. The sweeping contrasts emphasize his refusal to accept a complete separation.

34行目から41行目: Moonlight and stars keep Annabel Lee present in the speaker’s dreams and vision. He calls her his bride and describes lying beside her in her tomb throughout the night. The ending turns his claim of lasting spiritual closeness into a troubling physical image of companionship with the dead.

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考えを深める三つの問い

  1. How does the repeated seaside setting shape the mood as the poem moves from childhood love to death?
  2. What does the speaker’s explanation of the angels’ jealousy reveal about how he understands his loss?
  3. How does the final image of lying beside Annabel Lee complicate the speaker’s claim that love defeats separation?

3か月間無料でご利用いただけます

200,000+の古典を、すべての形式で無料から楽しめます。

電子書籍、オーディオブック、15分で読める要約を楽しめます。どの本も紙の本や大活字本として、印刷費のみで購入できます。

無料で始めます本日のお支払いはありません。初年度は一日あたりUSD 0.14、その後は一日あたりUSD 0.27です。
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