Edgar Allen Poe's Annabel Lee

Edgar Allen Poe wrote the poem Annabel Lee in 1849. The poem is about the loss of a love, the loss of his wife Virginia. Poe’s wife died of a disease common in that era, which in fact killed many people, called tuberculosis. Tuberculosis was responsible for the death of about 2,500 people in just three years, from 1885-1887. Poe wrote this poem two years after the death of his beloved wife. In this two year span, many people suggest that he had tried dating in many affairs, and even contemplated remarrying, but he never did. This poem, Annabel Lee expounded on the love he had for his wife, and how he misses her and thinks of her often, and how he remembers the love they had. Annabelle Lee is classified as a narrative poem, although it …show more content…
Poe titled his poem Annabel Lee which gives the reader incite to what the poem will be about. The entirety of the poem is about this woman, Annabel Lee a woman who he loved. The title shows the reader, more or less, the subject of the poem. The poem’s title is quite literal. Yet another important element to this poem is the rhythm quality and the rhyme scheme Poe uses, to create a smooth flow throughout the piece. He creatively uses this smooth rhyme scheme in order to better accentuate the romantic, loving quality of the poem. It gives off a soft, and happy appearance, however the words of the poem are constantly melancholy and depressing, and towards the end, you can see even a gothic undertone, classic to Poe's traditional …show more content…
It also suggests that they may have been young when she passed away. It implies a sense of sweet innocence to their love. And there is more disguised meaning behind these lines. Poe was the age of 27 at the time he and his wife Virginia got married, and Virginia was only 13 years old. I agree with Jeannine Johnson’s critique of the poem when she says, “Poe uses the word “child” to emphasize the innocence and purity of their bond. Because of his beloved’s youth and their untainted love for each other, he is a child in spirit, if not in chronological age.” Poe both literally and figuratively conveys the youthfulness of their love. When Poe uses the word child over and over again, he is literally conveying that their love began at such a young age. That is, at least for Virginia. Taking this factor of age into play, you can only imagine the shock and surprise when his wife Virginia, 13 years younger than Poe, left this earth before