Symbolism In Annabel Lee

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“Annabel Lee”, written by Edgar Allen Poe, was published in 1849. This poem depicts the love story between two young people. Their love was deep and passionate. So passionate in fact that it caused the angels to become angry and jealous. Their love ended up being Annabel Lee’s downfall, as the speaker of the poem believes the angels sent down a wind to cause Annabel to fall ill and die. The last half of the poem describes the endurance of their love. What makes this poem so compelling is Edgar’s marvelous use of imagery and symbolism, rhythm, repetition, and rhyme. Annabel Lee features incredibly rich imagery and symbolism throughout the poem. The imagery, with the assistance of the rhythm, causes the poem to come alive. While the words Poe …show more content…
One of the major symbols highlighted in the poem is the kingdom by the sea. The kingdom by the sea is initially introduced in the second line of the first stanza. Though the kingdom is constantly referred to throughout the poem, Poe doesn’t describe the ascetics of the kingdom. Due to the lack of detail, the kingdom feels mysterious, as if it is far away in both time and location from the reader’s own home. The combination of the kingdom with the sea also highlights the relationship between man and nature, concluding throughout the poem which force is stronger. A major literary device that Poe used to create his poem is rhyme. Rhyme appears in multiple facets in “Annabel Lee”. However, Poe did not use the same rhyme scheme in every stanza. Each stanza has it’s own unique rhyme scheme. In the first stanza, the rhyme scheme appears as a,b,a,b,c,b. Poe uses exact rhymes in his first stanza, which are all additionally end rhymes. For example, he rhymes ago (line 1) with know (line 3) and sea (line 2) with Lee (line 4). The second stanza also contains end rhymes. However, the rhyme scheme changes to a,b,c,b,d,b. Poe uses exact rhymes in the …show more content…
He repeats words, themes, and ideas throughout the poem. The word repeated the most is the word sea. It is found in lines 2, 8, 14, 20, 24, 31, 41, and 40. The phrase kingdom by the sea is repeated in lines 2, 8, 14, 20, and 24, while the word sea is found alone in the other lines. Poe uses the sea as a symbol in his poem. While the speaker in the poem chooses to blame the angles for Annabel’s death, natural elements are the true reason for her death. Poe reminds the reader of this through the repetition of the sea. “Annabel Lee” does not shine a great light on the sea; instead the sea feels ominous and menacing. Poe accomplishes that by using alliteration. He repeats the s sound throughout the poem. For example, he uses alliteration in line 41 with the sounding sea. The name Annabel Lee showcases another form of repetition. Annabel Lee is repeated in lines 4, 10, 16, 26, 33, 35,

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