Annabel Lee
It was many and many a year ago,In a kingdom by the sea,That a maiden there lived whom you may knowBy the name of ANNABEL LEE;And this maiden she lived with no other thoughtThan to love and be loved by me.
I was a child and she 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 heavenCoveted her and me.
And this was the reason that, long ago,In this kingdom by the sea,A wind blew out of a cloud, chillingMy beautiful ANNABEL LEE;So that her high-born kinsman cameAnd bore her away from me,To shut her up in a sepulchreIn 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 the cloud by night,Chilling and killing my ANNABEL LEE.
But our love it was stronger by far than the loveOf 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 soulOf the beautiful ANNABEL LEE:
For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreamsOf the beautiful ANNABEL LEE;And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyesOf the beautiful ANNABEL LEE;And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the sideOf my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,In the sepulchre there by the sea,In her tomb by the sounding sea.
Words in this poem
- kinsman n.
- A man of the same race or family; one related by blood.
- sepulchre n.
- The place in which the dead body of a human being is interred, or a place set apart for that purpose; a grave; a tomb. [OE. sepulcre, OF. sepulcre, F. sépulcre, fr. L. sepulcrum, sepulchrum, fr. sepelire to bury.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- dissever v. t.
- To part in two; to sever thoroughly; to sunder; to disunite; to separate; to disperse. [OE. dessevrer; pref. des- (L. dis-) + sevrer to sever, F. sevrer to wean, L. separate to separate. In this word the prefix is intensive. See Dis-, and Sever.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Annabel Lee is in the public domain. This text is taken from The poetical works of Edgar Allan Poe, Project Gutenberg ebook #79019; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edgar Allan Poe, Annabel Lee, in The Complete Poetical Works (1827–1849), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #79019, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poe-poems/annabel-lee.html, id L04158.
Form and metre
Annabel Lee is 41 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.9 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 27% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in anapaestic trimeter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABAB-B agoA · seaB · knowA · leeB · thought · meB
- 2 -A-A-A child · seaA · love · leeA · heaven · meA
- 3 -A-A-A-A ago · seaA · chilling · leeA · came · meA · sepulchre · seaA
- 4 -A-A-A heaven · meA · know · seaA · night · leeA
- 5 ABBAB-B loveA · weB · weB · aboveA · seaB · soul · leeB
- 6 -A-ABBAA dreams · leeA · eyes · leeA · sideB · brideB · seaA · seaA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against anapaestic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| It was many and many a year ago, | 9 | ··/·/··˘/ |
| In a kingdom by the sea, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| That a maiden there lived whom you may know | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| By the name of ANNABEL LEE; | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| And this maiden she lived with no other thought | 11 | ··/˘····/˘· |
| Than to love and be loved by me. | 8 | ········ |
| I was a child and she was a child, | 9 | ········· |
| In this kingdom by the sea: | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| But we loved with a love that was more than love— | 11 | ··········· |
| I and my ANNABEL LEE; | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven | 10 | ·········/ |
| Coveted her and me. | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| And this was the reason that, long ago, | 10 | ····/˘··˘/ |
| In this kingdom by the sea, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| My beautiful ANNABEL LEE; | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘·· |
| So that her high-born kinsman came | 8 | ·····/·· |
| And bore her away from me, | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| To shut her up in a sepulchre | 8 | ········ |
| In this kingdom by the sea. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| The angels, not half so happy in heaven, | 10 | ·/˘···/˘·/ |
| Went envying her and me— | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| In this kingdom by the sea) | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| That the wind came out of the cloud by night, | 10 | ·········· |
| Chilling and killing my ANNABEL LEE. | 10 | /˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| But our love it was stronger by far than the love | 12 | ·/···/˘····· |
| Of those who were older than we— | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Of many far wiser than we— | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| And neither the angels in heaven above, | 10 | ·/˘·/˘·/·· |
| Nor the demons down under the sea, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Can ever dissever my soul from the soul | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Of the beautiful ANNABEL LEE: | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams | 11 | ···/···/˘·· |
| Of the beautiful ANNABEL LEE; | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes | 11 | ···/······· |
| Of the beautiful ANNABEL LEE; | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side | 12 | ············ |
| Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride, | 12 | ··/˘·/˘····· |
| In the sepulchre there by the sea, | 8 | ········ |
| In her tomb by the sounding sea. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.