FOCUS: Poetry

Annabel Lee

by Edgar Allen Poe

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than 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 winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In 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 by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
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 Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

I first read this poem maybe about a year and a half ago and I loved it. I'm not sure if I really paid attention to the words the first time I read it, because I was only conscious of two things about the poem.

1. It was a poem, for goodness' sake! Poems are beautiful. Poems are lovely. I love poems.

2. It is a LOVE poem! Love poems are doubly beautiful! Love poems are doubly lovely! I love poems!

So today I felt like reading this poem, and I actually read it this time. I read the words and comprehended them. (well, somewhat) And I find that this poem is still beautiful because of the plain facts that it is a poem and it is a love poem, and it is lovely. But it is also an epically sad poem. So romantic and sad and deeply darkly beautiful. Sorry. That's enough of my rambling. :)

10.21.2011

Poetry

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