Annabel Lee - Edgar Allan Poe

"Annabel Lee"

Edgar Allan

Poe

By Anita McKim

1 It was many and many a year ago,

 2  In a kingdom by the sea,

3 That a maiden there lived whom you may know

4 By the name of Annabel Lee;

5 And this maiden she lived with no other thought

6 Than to love and be loved by me.

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7 I was a child and she was a child,

8  In this kingdom by the sea,

9 But we loved with a love that was more than love—

10 I and my Annabel Lee—

11 With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven

12 Coveted* her and me.

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13 And this was the reason that, long ago,

14  In this kingdom by the sea,

15 A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling

16   My beautiful Annabel Lee;

17 So that her highborn kinsmen* came

 18  And bore her away from me,

19 To shut her up in a sepulchre

20 In this kingdom by the sea.​

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*Coveted - to be jealous

*Kinsmen - relatives​

21 The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,

22 Went envying her and me—

23 Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,

24  In this kingdom by the sea)

25 That the wind came out of the cloud by night,

26   Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

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27 But our love it was stronger by far than the love

28  Of those who were older than we—

29   Of many far wiser than we—

30 And neither the angels in Heaven above

31   Nor the demons down under the sea

32 Can ever dissever my soul from the soul

33   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

 

34 For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams

35   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

36 And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes

37   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

38 And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side

39   Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,

40  In her sepulchre there by the sea—

41   In her tomb by the sounding sea.

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Multiple Choice

In which line does the poem's theme begin to emerge?

• "It was many and many a year ago"

• "So that her highborn kinsmen came

  And bore her away from me"

• "I was a child and she was a child"

• "And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes"

Multiple Choice

The THEME of the poem is:

• Love is a beautiful thing.

• Living by the ocean can be dangerous.

• Family members are cruel and jealous.

• Death cannot separate true love.

Multiple Choice

From careful reading (and thinking), you can infer that “seraphs” are:

• Angels

• Lovers

• Relatives

• Horses with wings

Multiple Choice

From careful reading (and thinking), you can infer that a “sepulchre” is:

• A castle

• A home

• A tomb

• A ship

Multiple Choice

What is the effect of the poet’s repetition of “In this kingdom by the sea”?

• It adds hypnotic and mysterious rhythm

• It confuses the reader

• It shows how alone the speaker is.

• It lets the reader know that Annabel Lee drowned

Multiple Choice

The tone of the poem is:

• Happy and upbeat

• Melancholy and sad

• Scary

• Angry and hostile

Multiple Choice

"And the stars never rise that I feel the bright eyes

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee"

The stars symbolize:

• The jealousy of the angels.

• Annabel Lee’s love for the speaker.

• The kinsmen’s hatred for the couple.

• His pain and suffering.

Multiple Choice

"For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee"

The moon symbolizes:

• The seraphs’ jealousy of their love.

• The speaker’s memories of Annabel Lee.

• The pain that the speaker feels.

• The hatred that the speaker feels for the kinsmen.

Multiple Choice

Which line shows that the speaker blames someone for separating him from Annabel Lee.

• “So that her highborn kinsmen came And bore her away from me,

       To shut her up in a sepulchre”

• “And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side

       Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride”

• “For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams”

• “But our love it was stronger by far than the love

    Of those who were older than we”

Multiple Choice

Based on the evidence in the poem, we can infer that Annabel Lee probably died from pneumonia or a really nasty cold. That evidence is in line:

• Line 5

  And this maiden she lived with no other thought

• Line 15

  A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling

• Line 20

  In this kingdom by the sea.​

• Line 30

  And neither the angels in Heaven above

Multiple Choice

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.

The speaker blames this for Annabel Lee's death:

• The seraph’s jealousy of their love.

• The sea

• The kinsmen’s disappointment in her choice of lovers

• The cold wind

Multiple Choice

At the end of the poem, readers learn that the speaker:

• Is over Annabel Lee

• Wants to kill the seraphs and kinsmen

• Sleeps next to Annabel Lee’s sepulchre every night

• Never sleeps any more

Multiple Choice

Which line is an example of figurative language?

• "But our love was stronger by far than the love of those who were older than we"

• "In the kingdom by the sea"

• "To shut her up in a sepulchre"

• "The wind came out of the cloud by night, Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee"

Open Ended

Refer to your notes. What are the main elements of gothic literature that are present in this poem?