Criticism And Symbolism In Poe's Annabel Lee

1608 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Edgar allan poe writing techniques

“Annabel Lee” “Annabel Lee”, although a hard choice between Poe’s poems, is one of my favorite poems so I’ve chosen to write my essay on it. I’m a big fan of Poe, particularly his poems, especially Annabel Lee because it is one of his most dark and daring pieces. While Poe’s other works are very dark, this one has a more intense and beautiful dark feeling than the rest. Poe starts off the poem as a whimsical fairy-tale type setting in a “kingdom by the sea.” He continues with this theme throughout stanza one by calling Annabel Lee a “maiden”, hinting that she’s a young and probably attractive girl. Towards the end of the first stanza, the speaker informs us of the love him and Annabel Lee share and how it was the only thing that really mattered.
I thought of the sea as the most important and repetitive symbol in the poem. While the kingdom is a symbol of power of humans and the cruelty of humans than the sea paired with is must be the symbol or power of nature. Poe combines the two worlds with one simple phrase “kingdom by the sea”. In line 31 Poe mentions the sea for the first time without the kingdom, making it its own powerful entity. He mentions that it is filled with demons, demons that want to separate Annabel Lee and him. Now the imagery of the sea has become dark and cruel as well, making the sea more intense; we can picture a sea of demons, not water. The new imagery of the sea is what helps turn “Annabel Lee” into a dark and scary poem. As we can see, the sea parts everything together, the tomb that Annabel Lee rests in is conveniently placed by the water too. Poe uses alliteration of the s sound in sepulchre and sea to create an evil hissing sound, building rhythm in the poem. Finally, the sea is the last word of the poem, which is critical. Just as the sea parts everything together, it rounds the whole poem out an leaves us with a very daunting image of a lonely dark sea. Again, Poe uses alliteration in the phrase “sounding sea”, going with the mood we are left with a very open sounding sea that is mysterious and deadly, the most common themes of the

Show More
Related

  • Edgar Allan Poe Obituary

    1737 Words  | 4 Pages

    Some believe that Annabel Lee was written for his wife, but others think that the love of his life, Sarah Emira Royster, that he was parted from as a youth of 18, was the true recipient for the beautiful but morbid poem. . Mr. Poe was scheduled to wed the same Sarah Elmira Royster Shelton just days before his death. “The significance of “Annabel Lee” to their relationship may, however, be reflected in the account of his desire to have it published for the first time with their wedding announcement in the local papers. Since Poe died just ten days before they would have been married, the poem was instead first printed at the end of his obituary written by Rufus Griswold in the New York Daily Tribune” (Poe Museum)

    Read More

  • Comparison of Edgar Allan Poe's Annabel Lee and The Raven

    394 Words  | 1 Pages

    Edgar Allan Poe's view on poetry is that all poems must be a "rhythmical creation of beauty". In his eyes, melancholy and sadness is beautful. He thinks that the death of a young beautiful woman is itself full of beauty. In both "Annabel Lee" and "The Raven", Poe writes about this so-called beauty.

    Read More

  • The Use Of Alliteration In The Diver By Robert Hayden

    1029 Words  | 3 Pages

    The repetition of sound causes different feelings of uncertainty and fear as the reader delves deeper into the poem. “Moss of bryozoans/blurred, obscured her/metal...” (Hayden 3). The r’s that are repeated in blurred and obscured create a sense of fogginess of the darkness of the water that the speaker is experiencing. The fogginess is a sense of repression, which is attempting its way out of the mind to the conscious. Hayden continues the use of alliteration with F and S sounds. Although they are different letters they produce the same sound that causes confusion, but an acceptance of death. “Yet in languid/frenzy strove, as/one freezing fights off/sleep desiring sleep;/strove against/ the canceling arms that/suddenly surrounded/me...” (Hayden 4). The use of sound at the last six lines of the poem causes the reader to feel the need for air and the fear of death. “Reflex of life-wish?/Respirators brittle/belling? Swam from/the ship somehow; /somehow began the/measured rise” (Hayden 4). The R sounds that begin is the swimming through the water. The B sound that continues right after in “brittle belling” is the gasp of air, and finally, the S sounds that finish the line by creating a soft feeling. As if the reader might not get out in time, even though the lines are saying that the speaker does escape the ship. The fear the alliteration evokes from the reader is the unconscious. The deep inner thoughts that no one wants to tap into. The speaker is accepting the idea of death in the ocean through his unconscious, but his conscious mind is trying to push back and begin the “measured rise” (Hayden 4) back to the

    Read More

  • How Did Poe Influence His Wife's Death

    415 Words  | 1 Pages

    Poe was likely influenced by the death of his wife, his gloomy childhood, and Tuberculosis. To begin, Poe may have been influenced by his wife’s death to write “Annabel Lee.” First, Poe loved his wife Virginia very much and they lived a good life. Similarly, the narrator in “Annabel Lee” was in love with Annabel and they were very happy together. In addition, Poe’s wife Virginia died of Tuberculosis at a young age. Likewise, Annabel died at a very young age by “the wind chilling her.” Therefore, the death of Virginia, Poe’s wife, influenced him to write “Annabel Lee.”

    Read More

  • “Because I could not stop for Death” and “Annabel Lee”: Similarities, Differences, and Their Authors

    1506 Words  | 4 Pages

    Poe, Edgar Allan. "Annabel Lee." Poetry Foundation. Ed. Poetry Foundation. Harriet Monroe Poetry Institute, n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.

    Read More

  • Analysis of The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

    457 Words  | 1 Pages

    Within the poem Poe divides the characters and imagery into two conflicting aspects of light and dark. Almost everything in the poem reflects one world or the other. For example, Lenore, who is repeatedly described as ?radiant? epitomizes the world of light along with the angels she has joined. Another image of light would be the lamplight the character uses to light his chamber, his refuge from the darkness of the outside. However, The Raven, as well as the dreary December night shows signs of darkness. These images of light and darkness go even further to represent life and death, the man?s hope of an afterlife with Lenore and his fear of everlasting loneliness.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Irony In Annabel Lee

    887 Words  | 2 Pages

    The diction of “Annabel Lee” helps create the impression of a fairy tale-like love story. With words such as “maiden” (line 3), “kingdom” (line 8), “beautiful” (line 16), “high-born kinsmen” (line 17), Poe paints a picture of a whimsical, fantastic love story when, in reality, Annabel Lee dies in her girlhood. This is wherein lies the irony: the glamorization of the persona’s love of Annabel Lee

    Read More

  • Annabel Lee Analysis Essay

    1139 Words  | 3 Pages

    The most obvious use of repetition would be the abundant use of Annabel Lee’s name in the poem. The fact that the title of the poem is Annabel Lee, and her name is repeated so often throughout the poem clearly demonstrates just how important and lovely she is to the narrator. The second most prominent use of repetition comes from the lines regarding the “kingdom by the sea” (Poe). Poe constantly reinforces the setting and reminds the reader of its importance in almost every single stanza until near the end of the

    Read More

  • The Awakening Rhetorical Analysis

    787 Words  | 2 Pages

    Chopin invites the reader to envision the alluring water of the Gulf, which is accentuated by a hyperbole that expresses its radiant effect, as it reflects the million lights of the sun. This evokes feelings of freedom and hope within the reader as Edna realizes that she no longer requires Robert to be happy; therefore establishing the beach as a symbol of hope. She invigorates this belief by describing how “the voice of the sea is seductive, never ceasing, whispering, clamouring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander in abysses of solitude” (lines 11-13). When the reader denotes this line, it creates a peaceful mood, for they imagine the radiant sea’s captivating sounds. Although, when they connote this line, they recognize that Chopin uses the sea to symbolizes solitude, and its captivating sounds are alluring her into its abyss.

    Read More

  • Robert Frost: Annotated Bibliography

    1062 Words  | 3 Pages

    In this poem, Frost includes his fear of the ocean and exaggerates its destructive power. As Judith Saunders stated that “The first thirteen lines have depicted an ocean storm of unusual force, and through personification the poet attributes to this storm a malign purposefulness” (1). Frost provided human characteristics on the storm to help prove his point that the ocean has bad intentions and its only purpose is to hurt him. Frost does not describe the waves as a result of unfavorable weather; he explains them as having a malignant intention to destroy the world. This poem revolves around the forces of nature and could be included in the long list of nature themed poems by Robert Frost.

    Read More

  • An Analysis of Annabel Lee

    637 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this poem, Poe writes primarily with a combination of iambic and anapestic feet, alternating between tetrameter and trimeter. The word "chilling," however, is permitted in both places it is used, lines fifteen and twenty-five, to retain its jarring trochaic meter (one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable). This is done most probably to utilize the provoking effect of that meter; the death of the speaker's loved one disturbs the rhythm of the poem and startles the reader. End rhyme in the poem alternates lines with a few variations and bears little significance; the repeated rhyming words are: "Lee," "sea," "me," and "we."

    Read More

  • Romanticism In Annabel Lee By Edgar Allan Poe

    962 Words  | 2 Pages

    Edgar Allan Poe was able to clearly illustrate the theme, the speaker, and the setting of the poem through the use of repetition and imagery. It is unmistakable that the theme of the poem was love. Poe used an extensive amount of repetition of the word “love” throughout the poem, to convey that love is the main theme of his poem. He also used the phrase “in a kingdom by the sea” many times in order to reveal that the setting of the poem was in a kingdom by the sea. Repetition and imagery also gave clues as to who was narrating the poem. The excessive use of the word “I” and “my” indicated that Edgar Allan Poe was the

    Read More

  • Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe's 'Annabel Lee'

    1231 Words  | 3 Pages

    The explication was an opinion thought and also details about this poem. I found out that poems have a lot of meanings once you annotate it and break it down. “Annabel Lee” was an interesting poem that had brought out my attention. Although poems are not one of my biggest things to read or do, I enjoyed “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Poe’s The Raven

    1358 Words  | 3 Pages

    Poe’s most famous poem begins with an imagery that immediately brings the reader into a dark, cold, and stormy night.  Poe does not wish for his readers to stand on the sidelines and watch the goings on, but actually be in the library with the narrator, hearing what he hears and seeing what he sees.  Using words and phrases such as “midnight dreary” and “bleak December” Poe sets the mood and tone, by wanting his readers to feel the cold night and to reach for the heat of the “dying embers” of the fireplace.  You do not come into this poem thinking daffodils and sunshine, but howling winds and shadows.  By using these words, Poe gives you the sense of being isolated and alone.  He also contrasts this isolation, symbolized by the storm and the dark chamber, with the richness of the objects in the library.  The furnished room also reminds him of the beauty of his lost Lenore.  Also, Poe uses a rhythm in his beginning stanza, using “tapping”, followed by “rapping, rapping at my door”, and ending with “tapping at my chamber door.”  You can almost hear the tapping on the door of the library as ...

    Read More

  • Contributions of Edgar Allan Poe

    1623 Words  | 4 Pages

    Poe was an American poet who contributed many great pieces of literature to our society. His works illustrate and portray a realm of both paranormal and morbid beauty. In each poem usually lies a demonic undertone, that frequently summed up to a type of conclusion that can in one way or another pertain to h is life’s reminiscences. A common choice of topic for Poe was his love for his wife Virginia, who tragically died of tuberculosis. His poems that revolve around her, more often then not, contain a tone of sadness, loneliness, and despair. In both "The Raven" and "Annabel Lee" he makes reference to her as the long lost Lenore. Whether it was a way for him to idolize, or recollect on his memories of her he always seemed to do it in a haunting and surreal way.

    Read More

More about Criticism And Symbolism In Poe's Annabel Lee

Open Document