Analysis of Annabel Lee
Abstract
"Annabel Lee" is the last complete poem[1]composed by American author Edgar Allan Poe. Like many of Poe's poems, it explores the theme of the death of a beautiful woman.[2] The narrator, who fell in love with Annabel Lee when they were young, has a love for her so strong that even angels are envious. He retains his love for her even after her death. There has been debate over who, if anyone, was the inspiration for "Annabel Lee". Though many women have been suggested, Poe's wife Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe is one of the more credible candidates. Written in 1849, it was not published until shortly after Poe's death that same year.
In this essay, I will explore this wonderful poem through the following parts.
Key words：Edgar Allen Poe;Annabel Lee
1. Introduction
1.1 Poe’s life
Poe’s life was a series of disasters. He was born in Boston, one of three children of a pair of travelling actors. His father deserted the family and soon died when Poe was only one year old. The next year, his mother died, too, leaving Poe to a prosperous merchant, Joan Allan. Although Poe adopted Allan as a middle name, the foster father never adopted him legally. In fact, the father had bitter quarrels with Poe and refused to pay for his college fees. Addicted to drinking and gambling, Poe was soon expelled by his foster father. Poe left the home in a fury and joined army. Not being able to endure the strict rules and realizing that is was not a right place for a literary man to seek freedom, Poe deliberately violated a few minor regulations of the academy and was soon dismissed. He went to live with his aunt in Baltimore, and began to devote himself to literary creation. He married his 13-year-old cousin,
Virginia, in 1835. Though Poe’s marriag e to Virginia was originally partially for money, Virginia’s death in1847 caused great pain and suffering to Poe. He continued to write, but his involvement with several women admirers brought about tremendous spiritual burden so that Poe attempted o commit a suicide. With no effect, Poe engaged himself with his childhood sweetheart, Mrs. Shelton, in 1849, on the promise that he would quit alcohol. On the way to bring Mrs. Shelton to the wedding, Poe stopped in Baltimore where he was found unconscious in the street, obviously and alcohol-induced coma, Four days later, Poe died in the hospital and was later buried in Baltimore.
1.2 Poe’s Theory
As for Poe’s criticism of fiction and verse, there is an intersection with the often-overlooked depth of his work. Poe developed a theory of composition that he applied to both his short storied and his poems. His most basic principle was that insofar as short fiction and poetry were concerned, the writer should aim at creating a single and total psychological spiritual effect upon the reader. The theme or plot of the article is always subordinate to the author’s deliberate construction of a single, intense mood in the reader’s or listener’s mind, be it melancholy, suspense, or horror. By doing so, Poe was establishing the rules and methods common to New Criticism, the leading school of literary analysis in the twentieth century. New Criticism insisted that the text must be interpreted as a self-contained unit apart from the critic’s opinions of its author or the suitability of its themes. And, the theory of ―effect‖ is so overwhelming in Poe’s aesthetics that he pays little attention to moral and truth. He attaches no social function to poetry and declares that the poem is ―written solely for the poem’s sake.‖(Poe 1984:75)
1.3 Theme Eternal love.
The love between the narrator and Annabel Lee is so strong and beautiful and pure that even the seraphs, the highest order of angels in heaven, envy it. They attempt to kill this love by sending a chilling wind that kills Annabel Lee. However, the love remains alive–eternal–because the souls of the lovers remain united. The
death of a beautiful woman is a common theme in Poe’s writing.
1.4 Poe's Aesthetics
In The Poetic Principle, Poe said: " An immortal instinct deep within the spirit of man is thus plainly a sense of the Beautiful. This it is which administers to his delight in the manifold forms, and sounds, and odors and sentiments amid which he exists. And just as the lily is repeated in the lake, or the eyes of Amaryllis in the mirror, so is the mere oral or written repetition of these forms, and sounds, and colors, and odors, and sentiments a duplicate source of de" light. But this mere repetition is not poetry. He who shall simply sing, with however glowing enthusiasm, or with however vivid a truth of description, of the sights, and sounds, and odors, and colors, and sentiments which greet him in common with all mankind - he, I say, has yet failed to prove his divine title. There is still a something in the distance which he has been unable to attain. We have still a thirst unquenchable, to allay which he has not shown us the crystal springs. This thirst belongs to the immortality of Man. It is at once a consequence and an indication of his perennial existence. It is the desire of the moth for the star. It is no mere appreciation of the Beauty before us, but a wild effort to reach the Beauty above......"
Poe's the attention to the aesthetic value is obvious.I will appreciate "Ann " in the perspective of aesthetics
2.the appreciation of Annabel Lee
2.1Word Choice:
Poe carefully chose the words of the poem to evoke a dreamland or fairytale atmosphere. It was many and many a year ago, for example, echoes the traditional fairytale opening of once upon a time. The words kingdom, maiden, and child then lead the reader into the never-never land, with kingdom suggesting chivalry and romance, maiden suggesting innocence, and child suggesting the wonderment of youth. Although he first uses sepulchre (Stanza 3) to refer to Annabel Lee's burial
chamber–then repeats it in the seventh line of Stanza 6–he uses tomb in the last line of the poem to refer to her resting place. Tomb has a more ominous connotation, suggesting finality. It also has a more deathly ring, like the cavernous toll of a funeral bell.
Poe relies heavily on alliteration in "Annabel Lee" to create pleasing sound patterns. Following are examples of alliteration in the poem:
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee......................(Alliterating words: came,
cloud, killing)
But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we–
Of many far wiser than we–................................(Alliterating words: was, who, were, we, wiser, we)
2.2Rhythms and Stanzas
"Annabel Lee" consists of six stanzas, three with six lines, one with seven, and two with eight, with the rhyme pattern differing slightly in each one. He uses three Rs–rhymes, rhythm, and repetition–in Annabel Lee to create a harmony of sound that unde rscores the exquisite harmony of the narrator’s relationship with his beloved. The sound of long ―e‖ is repeated throughout the poem. For example, in the first stanza, Line 2 ends with sea, Line 4 with Lee, d Line 6 with me. Stanzas 2 and 3 repeat the sea, Lee, me pattern, although Stanza 3 adds a second end-rhyming sea. Stanza 4 alters the pattern to me, sea, and Lee. Stanza 5 uses we, we, sea, and Lee; the last stanza uses Lee, Lee, sea, and sea. A notable example of internal rhyme occurs in the last line of Stanza 4:―Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.‖(Poe 1984:102)The lines of the poem alternate in length between a long line (usually with 9 to 11 syllables)and a short line (usually with 6 to 8 syllables),as in the first stanza:
It was many and many a year ago, (11 syllables)
In a kingdom by the sea, (7 syllables)
That a maiden there lived whom you may know (10 syllables)
By the name of Annabel Lee (8 syllables)
And this maiden she lived with no other though (11 syllables)
Than to love and be loved by me. (8 syllables)
Poe repeats this rhythmic pattern throughout the poem, perhaps to suggest the rise and fall of the tides. He also repeats key phrases–such as ―in this kingdom by the sea and my Annabel Lee‖ (or ―my beautiful Annabel Lee‖)—to create haunting refrains. In addition, Poe sometimes repeats words or word patterns within a single line, as in(1)―many and many a year ago‖,(2)―we loved with a love that was more than love‖, and(3)―my darling—my darling‖. Poe further enhances the rhythm of the poem with the repetition of consonant sounds, which means that he relies heavily on alliteration to create pleasing sound patterns. In order to achieve musical effect, Poe has even composed some poems with little or no substance. The Bells is a typical one. It can be said to be an elaborate display of poetic craftsmanship with almost nothing to say. Various kinds of techniques about the creation of sounds have all been brought into full play.
2.3 Symbolism in this poem
In this poem, Poe uses pairs of contrasted images to effect typical symbolic significance. The sea and the land are a pair of images that often appear together in his poems. The sea and the land are respectively symbolic of life and death. By using these two images, Poe intends to show the integration of this life and the life to come, and the communication between the living and the dead. Feeling sad at losing Annabel Lee, Annabel’s lover comes to the seaside every night and lies down by her tomb to mourn her. The sound of tide at night is symbol of the sobbing of a woman, who, though in another world, is still whispering her affection to her lover.
2.4Imagery–Darkness and Light.
Implied and explicit images of darkness and light occur throughout the poem. Poe implies that the kingdom by the sea is a bright, cheerful place where the sun
shines on two young lovers, the narrator and Annabel Lee. Ironically, in another realm of dazzling light–heaven–the highest order of angels, the Seraphim, grow dark with envy of the young couple. Under cover of night, they send a cold wind that kills Annabel Lee: "The wind came out of the cloud by night, / Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee." But the narrator says he remains in a realm of light, for his soul and the soul of Annabel Lee are one. In the last stanza, Poe emphasizes this point with light imagery:
For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
3. Compare with a Chinese Poem
《Jiang Cheng Zi》by Su Shi
(Translated by American famous Sinologist Burton Watson )
Ten years, dead and living dim and draw apart.
I don't try to remember,
But forgetting is hard.
Lonely grave a thousand miles off,
Cold thoughts, where can I talk them out?
Even if we met, you wouldn't know me,
Dust on my face,
Hair like frost.
In a dream last night suddenly I was home.
By the window of the little room,
You were combing your hair and making up.
You turned and looked, not speaking,
Only lines of tears coursing down.
Year after year will it break my heart?
The moonlit grave,
The stubby pines.
This is a famous poem Written by Mr. Su Shi at year of 1075. When he wrote
this for his dead wife, Ms. Wang Fei. At that time, Mr. Su was 40 years age, during his exile caused by a court’s political conflict, and his wife had past away for 10 years. He could not go visit his wife’s grave near his home. In a Chinese old saying that our thoughts of day give us very same dreams at night. So surely he missed his wife day and night. He wrote a short note about this poem stated that this piece was a record for his dream at night.
Although Poe and Su.Shi ,coming from different countries , have different culture and different way to express their emotion.they have the same https://www.doczj.com/doc/2011796957.html,paring the poems ,we can understand the culture difference and people's feeling better.
4.Conclusion
Edgar Allan Poe's poetry has artistic mood , beautiful melody melancholy , touching and word selecting refining, the content and the form of perfect and unified. Edgar Allan Poe's poetry not only has artistic mood,melancholy atmosphere,touching melody and refining word ,but also reaches the perfection and unity of the content and the form..H e creat a perfect ideal beautiful world in many poems.《Annabel Lee 》is a word, full of memory and imagination, he creates .This world is a reflect extraordinary beauty .If we want to understand the poem better,we should know more about Poe's other works and his style.
Bibliography
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