Annabel Lee: A Gothic Poem by Edgar Allan Poe

Listen to “Annabel Lee”, a Gothic romance created by Edgar Allan Poe as his way to preserve love lost after death. The poem combines the macabre with the supernatural while still remaining relatable to those who share the experience of heartache and loss. Poe manages to create a poem that is both haunting in context and beautifully woeful, conjuring a feeling that resembles painful nostalgia in remembering that which is gone.
The poem was published in the New York Tribune in 1849 just two days after Poe’s death. The poem was considered to be the last complete poem before his death in 1849. The poem has sparked debates as to whom Poe is referring to in the poem. And, based on his life history, many believe that there is evidence suggesting that it was written in the memory of his wife Virginia.

“Annabel Lee” tells the story of a love of two people. Both were so in love with each other it caused the heavens themselves to become envious and punished the lovers with death. However, the poem shows that even if the lovers are separated their love will never die.

The poem is structured in six stanzas each with a different number of lines. Each stanza has a slightly different rhyming pattern as well. Throughout the poem there are repeated uses of the words “sea, Annabel Lee, and me.” The poem centers around a story of a girl named Annabel Lee and her relationship to the narrator. The poem tells of how they both lived in “a kingdom by the sea.” The narrator explains that both have loved each other since they were children. However, it quickly changes when the narrator explains that the angels in heaven were envious of their love and they sent those who were related to her to take her away. The poem continues by stating that they took her away and put her in a cave by the sea and later killed her. The speaker goes on to say that even though she is dead their souls will always be connected. The poem then concludes with the narrator going to her and laying down next to her.