Thursday, April 8, 2010

Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe

In honor of National Poetry Month, here is a lovely Dark and Stormy poem.  Enjoy the gothic fabulousness! 


Annabel Lee

By
 Edgar Allan Poe
(published 1849)
  


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. 
She was a child and I 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 by night 
Chilling my Annabel Lee
So that her high-born kinsman came 
And bore her away from me, 
To shut her up in a sepulcher
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 a cloud, 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 see 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 her sepulcher there by the sea
In her tomb by the side of the sea.

4 comments:

  1. I love Poe! And I remember reading Annabel Lee when I was in grade school. It still gives me chills!

    Thanks for posting this!

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  2. Hi Susan, I read Poe as a child and I loved him too. The Masque of Red Death is probably my very favorite, though I'm still not exactly sure what it's about. :)

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  3. I just loved the movie version of MASQUE, with Vincent Price as Prospero and Jane Asher (Paul McCartney's girlfriend) as Francesca.

    BTW, Lydia, it was great seeing you at CR RWA yesterday. I'm following your fabulous blog now -- hope you will come over and visit my blog, THE STORM REPORT!

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  4. The Storm Report! I love it! I'm heading over there right now.

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