Annabel Lee

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.

Edgar Allan Poe and his wife Virginia Clemm Poe

The poem, "Annabel Lee" was written in her memory

and published after his death in 1849.

I was 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 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 of out of a cloud, chilling

My beautiful Annabel Lee;

So that her high-born kinsman came

And bore her away from me,

To shut her up in a sepulcher

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 far than the love

Of those that 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 sepulcher there by the sea,

In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Love's Old Sweet Song
The Mills Brothers

"Annabel Lee"

Edgar Allan Poe

(1809-1849)

American poet and writer