The Raven and. Annabel Lee
Try to imagine how you would feel if every family member you loved died. Edgar Allen Poe didn’t have to imagine this situation, he lived it. Poe had a miserable childhood. He lost many of his loved ones to death, which affected his mind. He became focused on death and the effects it left on those behind. His obsession with death can be seen in most of his writings. If one looks carefully at Poe’s writings, “The Raven” and “Annabel Lee” you can see this darkness. There are multiple similarities and differences between the two poems. Similarities include mythological references, symbolism, and repetition. The difference between the poems are mainly the differences between the narrator 's. The first difference is in …show more content…
These references focus mainly on religious concepts of souls, angels, and demons. These references take both setting to a more mythological setting. The setting in Annabel Lee is simple, repeated only as a "kingdom by the sea." (Poe line 2). This lets the poem 's audience to place the setting just about anywhere they want. In The Raven, the setting is more focused to the reference "a midnight dreary" and the "ghost" created by the fire 's dying embers create an alternate reality (Poe lines 1 and 8). The "midnight dreary" line shows a time in the space between two days. This space sets the narrator up to be between two worlds, before the loss of Lenore, and the time when he will have recovered from her loss.
Both of the poems make references to souls. In Annabel Lee the narrator indicates that his and her soul were linked and could not be torn apart. In The Raven, the narrator 's soul burns with fear during the beginning of his encounter with the raven, and wants to be reunited with Lenore throughout the rest of the poem. These references to the soul show that both of the narrators must believe in some kind of “afterlife”. Otherwise they would not be able to reunite with their lovers whether their souls were connected or …show more content…
This symbolism serves to show the feelings of the narrators and what is going on with them mentally and physically. In The Raven, the most powerful symbol is the raven. Historically the raven has come to symbolize many things. The tone of Poe 's The Raven implies that the narrator is focusing on the more negative aspects of the raven. Since the raven is a carrion bird, it is often associated with the images of feeding off the dead bodies of soldiers on a battlefield. There is also an old wives tale indicating that the tapping of a raven on a window means that death is coming in that house. The Raven supports this tale, rather than tapping on the door the raven taps on the window to get inside, hinting that there was death on the house because of Lenore. The sea in Annabel Lee also symbolizes the “overhanging” death that is symbolized by the raven. Typically the sea or the ocean is a symbol of peace. But with association of demons, this sea becomes a place of darkness. Within the poem the demons are described as being within the sea. This creates evil very close to the narrator, removing him from reality. Since the sea surrounds the narrator 's supposed home, and the spirit of Annabel, it seems that both the narrator and Annabel are surrounded by evil and the demons in the sea. The poem seems to indicate that Annabel loved him like children do, an innocent,
Try to imagine how you would feel if every family member you loved died. Edgar Allen Poe didn’t have to imagine this situation, he lived it. Poe had a miserable childhood. He lost many of his loved ones to death, which affected his mind. He became focused on death and the effects it left on those behind. His obsession with death can be seen in most of his writings. If one looks carefully at Poe’s writings, “The Raven” and “Annabel Lee” you can see this darkness. There are multiple similarities and differences between the two poems. Similarities include mythological references, symbolism, and repetition. The difference between the poems are mainly the differences between the narrator 's. The first difference is in …show more content…
These references focus mainly on religious concepts of souls, angels, and demons. These references take both setting to a more mythological setting. The setting in Annabel Lee is simple, repeated only as a "kingdom by the sea." (Poe line 2). This lets the poem 's audience to place the setting just about anywhere they want. In The Raven, the setting is more focused to the reference "a midnight dreary" and the "ghost" created by the fire 's dying embers create an alternate reality (Poe lines 1 and 8). The "midnight dreary" line shows a time in the space between two days. This space sets the narrator up to be between two worlds, before the loss of Lenore, and the time when he will have recovered from her loss.
Both of the poems make references to souls. In Annabel Lee the narrator indicates that his and her soul were linked and could not be torn apart. In The Raven, the narrator 's soul burns with fear during the beginning of his encounter with the raven, and wants to be reunited with Lenore throughout the rest of the poem. These references to the soul show that both of the narrators must believe in some kind of “afterlife”. Otherwise they would not be able to reunite with their lovers whether their souls were connected or …show more content…
This symbolism serves to show the feelings of the narrators and what is going on with them mentally and physically. In The Raven, the most powerful symbol is the raven. Historically the raven has come to symbolize many things. The tone of Poe 's The Raven implies that the narrator is focusing on the more negative aspects of the raven. Since the raven is a carrion bird, it is often associated with the images of feeding off the dead bodies of soldiers on a battlefield. There is also an old wives tale indicating that the tapping of a raven on a window means that death is coming in that house. The Raven supports this tale, rather than tapping on the door the raven taps on the window to get inside, hinting that there was death on the house because of Lenore. The sea in Annabel Lee also symbolizes the “overhanging” death that is symbolized by the raven. Typically the sea or the ocean is a symbol of peace. But with association of demons, this sea becomes a place of darkness. Within the poem the demons are described as being within the sea. This creates evil very close to the narrator, removing him from reality. Since the sea surrounds the narrator 's supposed home, and the spirit of Annabel, it seems that both the narrator and Annabel are surrounded by evil and the demons in the sea. The poem seems to indicate that Annabel loved him like children do, an innocent,