Edgar Allan Poe

Introduction

      Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809 and died on October 7, 1849. Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston as one of David and Elizabeth Poe's three children. Poe's writings are inspired by his tragic life, the portion of time he lived in, and his brain. Something that a lot of people probably do not know about him is, after his mother and father separated, he was adopted by John and Frances Allan. The not (well) known fact is, he was disowned by John when he went to West Point. Another is he loved cats. He owned a very loyal one named Caterina. When he was away, she was depressed and died only two weeks after Poe's death.

Poem

Annabel Lee

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 believe this poem is about the theme of love. It is delivering the impression that love never dies. I chose this poem to include because the title caught my eyes. I do not usually come across poem under the name of a person. It was different, in a good way. The poem turned out to have a wonderful message. I can't relate to this poem. I haven't experienced the death of  a loved one, yet. I wonder what  will happen when I do. I think Poe was quite the sad person. Reading a fragment of his life's story has revealed the tragedy in it. I don't  think he would have been able to stay happy for too long. h

Evaluation

     Alliteration-sounding sea, demons down, who were, cloud, chilling

     Personification-A wind blew out,  the wind came out of the cloud, our love it was stronger
     Repetition-kingdom by the sea, beautiful Annabel Lee
     Style- mostly free verse with a few rhymes here and there

    These elements do make the poem more interesting. If it were devoid of them, the message would not have as much impact. The overall mood is an happy sadness with them in there. In my mind, while reading it I would've called it extremely boring without them to add difference. A bit of variety to be interesting. I like it.

Final Thoughts

         I dare you to read more poems from Poe. See what you think of him. You could go to http://www.poemhunter.com/edgar-allan-poe/. What do you think of the poem featured in the post? Answer in the comments below.

Sources

• http://www.personal.psu.edu/kmb5425/Assignment3.html
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lynn-cullen/11-things-you-didnt-know-_1_b_4059140.html
• http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/annabel-lee/