Annabel Lee By Edger Allen Poe
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.
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 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, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
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 the cloud by night,
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 feel 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 the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
I first read this in 7th Grade Literature class. Liked it then, still like it now.
ReplyDeleteThis actually reminds me of a strange story that happened in Key West, Florida in the 1920s. A doctor fell in love with a young female patient who was dying of tuberculosis. When she passed, he stole her body from the cemetery and made something of a wax dummy out of her, and kept her as his "bride." Eventually, the woman's family found out and the body was confiscated. But the open-minded world of the Jazz Age found the story more tragic and even romantic than sick or twisted, and she was put on display at the funeral home for a few days. School was let out so kids could see it, even! Till death do us part, and beyond, even.
The doctor was found dead in a hotel over 20 years later, clutching a life-size doll.