Poetry · Chapter
Annabel Lee explained
The narrator recounts a love from long ago in a kingdom by the sea, where he and Annabel Lee loved deeply as children.
What happens
The narrator recounts a love from long ago in a kingdom by the sea, where he and Annabel Lee loved deeply as children. Their love was so pure that angels envied them, causing a chilling wind that killed Annabel Lee. Despite her death, their souls remain inseparable, and the narrator lies by her tomb each night, dreaming of her.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Beauty
The love between the narrator and Annabel Lee is portrayed as pure, all-consuming, and stronger than death itself.
Death and Mortality
Annabel Lee's death is central, caused by supernatural envy, yet the narrator's love persists beyond the grave.
Characters to notice
- Narrator
The speaker who loved Annabel Lee as a child and continues to mourn her, lying by her tomb.
- Annabel Lee
The beloved maiden who lived only to love and be loved by the narrator, killed by a chilling wind sent by envious angels.
Key passages
“It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden 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.”
Long ago, in a seaside kingdom, there lived a maiden named Annabel Lee, whose only purpose was to love and be loved by me.
Establishes the setting and the singular devotion of 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.”
Our love surpassed that of older and wiser people, and neither angels nor demons can separate my soul from Annabel Lee's.
Emphasizes the eternal, unbreakable bond of their love.
“For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee ; And the stars never rise but I see 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 her sepulchre there by the sea— In her tomb by the side of the sea.”
Every moonbeam brings dreams of Annabel Lee, and every star shows her eyes; each night I lie beside her in her seaside tomb.
Reveals the narrator's ongoing ritual of mourning and his refusal to let go.