Hi, can someone please explaib what highborn kinsmen are in the poem Annabel lee?? it is my favorite poem by poe and I'd like some help understanding it.... thanks.

-- Anonymous, July 23, 2000

Answers

highborn = of aristocratic blood

kinsmen = people of the same country as oneself

-- Anonymous, July 23, 2000

I was under the impression that kinsman means relative. My native tongue is not English, but I base this statement on the expression "next of kin", which you probably have heard and means "closest relative".

-- Anonymous, July 26, 2000

If I'm not wrong the "high-born kinsmen" in this poem are reffering to angels... as it reads: So that her high-born kinsman came And bore her away from me,

-- Anonymous, July 29, 2000

The Highborn were a race of humans that once existed as a ruling class in the ancient times. These humans held special gifts bestowed upon them by divinition. But they were prohibited from using there powers for evil, and those that they ruled they protected. As the ages pased the Highborn were gradually wiped out since they only procreated with other highborn, and they were constantly at battle. Now very few Highborn walk in this real, and those that do, are not aware of their bithright. It is my belief that the Highborn were concentrated in ancient summaria, and then something big happened that wiped out a great majority of the highborn. The few survivers went their seperate ways, some went east towards asia, others went west towards Europe.

-- Anonymous, April 06, 2001

Just to expand and relate on the angel theory and the next to kin/relative theory. Perhaps highborn kinsmen means family members whom have passed away whom are now angels providing protection. this is just a thought. No one can say anything for sure but we can enjoy trying to figure out that which is such a complex puzzle being the human mind.

-- Anonymous, July 01, 2001

Perhaps her relatives/angels think it is best for her to not be with him and are pulling her away from him. Perhaps Poe had a paranoia that her family thought that he was not suitable enough to be with her and gave him the ultimate insult by taking her as far away from him as possible. away through death.

-- Anonymous, July 01, 2001