Edgar Allan Poe · USA · 1849
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 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 her sepulchre there by the sea— In her tomb by the sounding sea.
“It was many and many a year ago,…”
Long ago, in a seaside kingdom, there lived a girl named Annabel Lee. Her entire world was love — loving me and being loved by me. We were both so young, but what we felt was beyond ordinary love — so intense that even the angels in heaven were jealous.
“I was a child and she was a child,…”
Their jealousy is why a cold wind came and took her. Her family came and locked her away in a tomb by the sea. But no heavenly force and no demonic one can separate my soul from hers.
“And neither the angels in Heaven above…”
Every night the moonlight brings me dreams of her. Every night I see her bright eyes in the stars. And every night I go and lie beside her tomb by the sea.
“For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams…”
Every night the moonlight brings me dreams of her. Every night I see her bright eyes in the stars. And every night I go and lie beside her tomb by the sea.
Why this poem matters
Poe's last complete poem, published two days after his death at 40. Many believe Annabel Lee was inspired by his wife Virginia, who died of tuberculosis at 24.