The Raven And Annabel Lee Analysis

In Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven and Annabel Lee Poe uses a very sagacious structure. In The Raven for example, at the end of every paragraph, Poe rhymes every stanza at a specific place which he uses throughout the whole poem. Although defined rhyme structure is what both Annabel Lee somewhat lacks, both poems have similar themes, such that of life, death, and love. The Raven and Annabel Lee alike have many structural and stylistic similarities which Poe is known for. Annabel Lee talks about a man remembering his love (who is named in the poem, Annabel Lee) who died by an unnamed cause. The narrator of the poem speaks of her as if he truly loved her. He even tells of how the angels in the heavens became jealous of him and Annabel Lee’s

Every stanza ends with a “me” or “sea” to rhyme with “Annabel Lee.” This rhyme scheme is consistent throughout the whole poem just like The Raven. The flow of the rhythm gives it an eerie feel like its theme of death and long lost love. The use of the “wind in the cold night” and the contrast of the angels and demons reinforces the almost ghost story-like sound and feel. The Raven starts off with the narrator dozing on and off on a cold December night trying to read a book. The narrator mentions a love long lost named Lenore in the beginning of the poem. Soon someone, or something, knocks on the door. The narrator opens it and finds no one, hearing something at the window he opens that, and a raven flies in landing on a piece of furniture. The narrator’s first instinct is to try to communicate with the bird (a sign of being a psychopath?), but the bird only answers “Nevermore” to each and every question asked. The Raven is most likely one of Edgar Allan Poe’s most famous work, and arguably, one of the most known in American literature throughout the globe. It has a very intricate and organized rhyme pattern, not just at the ends of the lines but throughout each and every stanza. The way it is set up makes the words roll of the tongue in a very pleasing flow. A perfect example to showcase this may be the first

To start off explaining the structure, take the rhyming words for example. There is internal rhyme in the first and third lines with “dreary and weary” and “napping and tapping”. The second, fourth, fifth, and sixth lines all end in the -ore sound (this reoccurs throughout the entire poem). This structure is consistent throughout the entirety of the piece. Many do believe this to be one of the best example of rhythm in American literature. As depicted previously, both Annabel Lee and The Raven have similar themes, structures, style, and overall tone. It may be that this is just Poe’s style, but the two works also have a much more important feature shared than just that. Both include a love of the narrator’s dying. In The Raven, Lenore is the love who dies and in Annabel Lee, Annabel Lee herself dies as well. Although the death of a loved one may be a more centralized theme in Annabel Lee than in The Raven, this particular trope is common amongst other Poe’s works (i.e. Ligeia, The Black Cat). They both share a common style of being grotesque, mystique, and gothic. Although it can be argued the major difference between the two is the more defined structure of The