Literary Symbolism In Edgar Allan Poe's Annabel Lee

Edgar Allan Poe narrative poem Annabel Lee is a poem that expresses the love between the narrator and Annabel lee it is a love that is strong, pure and beautiful from the narrator’s eyes although it was teared apart by those around them. During Edgar Allan Poe life he married his thirteen year old cousin at the age of twenty seven (Poe Museam). Virginia his wife died young at the age of twenty four due to an illness and shortly after Edgar died but his death is still a mystery although it is easy to believe that he died of heart ache just two days after the poem was published (Poe Museam). The poems setting takes place back in a fantasy mysterious kingdom with the main characters being Annabel Lee, the narrator and the seraphs a religious name for angels with big wings who are elites around god. The theme is eternal love conquers all although Annabel Lee has died we could still see the narrators true passion for the love that they have even after her death their love remains alive and eternal because of the lovers soul. Edgar Allan Poe shows his absolute devotion for his love for Annabel Lee through the use of literary techniques such as intentional personification, emotional symbolism and mysterious use of alliteration.

The use of personification “That the wind came out of the cloud by night, Chilling and Killing my Annabel Lee” (Poe line 25-26) is used to personify a human, not to interpret that the wind actually killed her because wind can’t kill people. The use of the moon beaming is another use of personification to portray his gloominess since Annabel death “For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams” (Poe line 34), the moon does not beam and neither does it provoke