Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” Vs. “Annabel Lee”
Poetry has been a huge inspiration to many readers around the world. It deals with incredible subjects, such as love, hate, and dreams. Most of these subjects have been used in many ways by different poets to write a well constructed poem. Edgar Allan Poe is one of those poets who typically write poems by using Gothic detail. Two popular works that he has written in this way are called “The Raven” and “Annabel Lee.” They are two strong lyric poems that focus on the aspects of “lost love.” Poe was able to establish well- developed speakers, symbolism, imagery, and sound effects to help develop these themes; however, a major difference between the two is the mental health of the speakers as they …show more content…
He narrates the poem with a dramatic tone about his grief over the terrifying tragedy of his lost love. He recalls himself as a young man, as he mentions how he was a child when “she was a child” (7). He speaks of his age because it reminds him of “[the] kingdom by the sea,” where he and Annabel Lee had “a love that was more than love” (7-9). However, he feels extremely distressed and depressed due to the death of his girl friend as he continues to say, Annabel Lee. Even this early in the poem, Poe indicates how the speaker is obsessed and unstable. He acts this way because he believes that “seraphs” were jealous of their love and caused her death by “the wind came out of the cloud by night, [c]hilling and killing [his] Annabel Lee” (25-26). As the poem progresses, the speaker becomes mad because he cannot accept her death and either is hallucinating or actually “[lying]” down with his “darling…in her tomb by the sea” (38-41). His obsession for her drives him to become really unstable and not focusing on …show more content…
He employs a great deal of repetition to give both poems musical values. In “Annabel Lee,” repetition is used when the speaker mentions that he and Annabel Lee “loved with a love that was more than love” (9). The word “love” is used as a lyrical expression to describe how the speaker feels about her. Poe expands upon this by using the speaker to emphasize Annabel Lee’s beauty, as the speaker “feel [her] bright eyes of [his] beautiful [darling]” (36-37). Poe did this by using the element of beauty because it is the “sole legitimate province of [a] poem” (Poe 678). To focus his idea of beauty, Poe had to create the speaker who is obsessed and “speaks of beauty” of an object or someone. This is what the speaker did, as he focuses on Annabel Lee and keeps stating that she is “beautiful.” Another repetition Poe uses is when the speaker repeats “kingdom by the sea,” “me,” and “Annabel Lee” in the middle of each stanza. Poe uses these words to help develop a peaceful, rhythmic effect, which have causes a serious use of refrain. It allows his poem an internal rhyme scheme, as it continues using words: “Lee,” “we,” “sea,” and “me” to focus the idea, while having a musical
Poetry has been a huge inspiration to many readers around the world. It deals with incredible subjects, such as love, hate, and dreams. Most of these subjects have been used in many ways by different poets to write a well constructed poem. Edgar Allan Poe is one of those poets who typically write poems by using Gothic detail. Two popular works that he has written in this way are called “The Raven” and “Annabel Lee.” They are two strong lyric poems that focus on the aspects of “lost love.” Poe was able to establish well- developed speakers, symbolism, imagery, and sound effects to help develop these themes; however, a major difference between the two is the mental health of the speakers as they …show more content…
He narrates the poem with a dramatic tone about his grief over the terrifying tragedy of his lost love. He recalls himself as a young man, as he mentions how he was a child when “she was a child” (7). He speaks of his age because it reminds him of “[the] kingdom by the sea,” where he and Annabel Lee had “a love that was more than love” (7-9). However, he feels extremely distressed and depressed due to the death of his girl friend as he continues to say, Annabel Lee. Even this early in the poem, Poe indicates how the speaker is obsessed and unstable. He acts this way because he believes that “seraphs” were jealous of their love and caused her death by “the wind came out of the cloud by night, [c]hilling and killing [his] Annabel Lee” (25-26). As the poem progresses, the speaker becomes mad because he cannot accept her death and either is hallucinating or actually “[lying]” down with his “darling…in her tomb by the sea” (38-41). His obsession for her drives him to become really unstable and not focusing on …show more content…
He employs a great deal of repetition to give both poems musical values. In “Annabel Lee,” repetition is used when the speaker mentions that he and Annabel Lee “loved with a love that was more than love” (9). The word “love” is used as a lyrical expression to describe how the speaker feels about her. Poe expands upon this by using the speaker to emphasize Annabel Lee’s beauty, as the speaker “feel [her] bright eyes of [his] beautiful [darling]” (36-37). Poe did this by using the element of beauty because it is the “sole legitimate province of [a] poem” (Poe 678). To focus his idea of beauty, Poe had to create the speaker who is obsessed and “speaks of beauty” of an object or someone. This is what the speaker did, as he focuses on Annabel Lee and keeps stating that she is “beautiful.” Another repetition Poe uses is when the speaker repeats “kingdom by the sea,” “me,” and “Annabel Lee” in the middle of each stanza. Poe uses these words to help develop a peaceful, rhythmic effect, which have causes a serious use of refrain. It allows his poem an internal rhyme scheme, as it continues using words: “Lee,” “we,” “sea,” and “me” to focus the idea, while having a musical