Annabel Lee
by Edgar Allan Poe · 1849 · 1 min read · 41 lines
“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.
What it means, line by line
Lines 1 to 6: 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.
Lines 7 to 12: 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.
Lines 13 to 20: 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.
Lines 21 to 26: 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.
Lines 27 to 33: 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.
Lines 34 to 41: 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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Three questions to think about
- How does the repeated seaside setting shape the mood as the poem moves from childhood love to death?
- What does the speaker’s explanation of the angels’ jealousy reveal about how he understands his loss?
- How does the final image of lying beside Annabel Lee complicate the speaker’s claim that love defeats separation?
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