Symbolism In Edgar Allan Poe's Annabel Lee

Flipping through the pages of “Poems” to find something that would catch my attention, I landed on a page that contained the words “In this kingdom by the sea”. I became curious to know if the poem was about a mermaid or some type of fairytale. As I read along, the story became more cold and the maiden became ill and passed away. After I finished the poem, I noticed that the author was none other than Edgar Allan Poe, which made tremendous sense as to why the poem turned dark. The poem reads with beautiful rhythm and the even numbered lines contain a rhyme scheme with an “ee” sound. Throughout the poem, Poe uses numerous examples of symbolism and imagery. The imagery, refrains and rhythm in Edgar Allan Poe’s “Annabel Lee” reflect the narrator’s feelings about the life and death of his departed love. Edgar Allan Poe wrote many poems throughout his life, but his fame was not accredited until he published …show more content…
“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”. The angels were envious of their love so the narrator is blaming the angels for making Annabel Lee sick and pass away. Also, apparently everyone in their town knew that it was the angels’ fault for her death.
Even though Annabel Lee has passed away, the fifth stanza describes how their love will last forever. “But our love it was stronger by far than the love/Of those who were older than we/Of many far wiser than we” shows that even though they were young, their love was true and better than any other love. The narrator trusts so much in their love that he believes that nothing in this world, or the next, can separate them from being together; “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