who is annabel lee

greenspun.com : LUSENET : The Work of Edgar Allan Poe : One Thread

who is annabel lee and why did mr. poe write this.

-- Anonymous, September 25, 2002

Answers

Annabel Lee was his wife and love, her death almost put him over the edge. I think................

-- Anonymous, September 25, 2002

Annabel Lee was a character in a poem. Maybe she was more to poe: like all the women he loved mixed together in one, maybe she was a particular person he was thinking of. But really she was just a character in a poem.

-- Anonymous, September 26, 2002

No absolute proof, but there are striking resmeblances, even to another form of the name, in older poems Poe might have read. The particular elements that might give weight to Poe's having his dead wife Virgina in mind are original. For me, all sentiment aside(Poe was not sentimental in how he used this poem in the market and in courting various women), the words "she was a child and I was a child" are a clue. First of all Virginia was a child when she married, and Poe perpetually immature and simple in this relationship seems to decribe the couple- especially in relationship to the world and fate. Furthermore, in the bitter last tale "Hop Frog", the small couple symbolizes clearly the poet and his wife misused by the world. That allegory is fairly clear and the spirit of grief and revolt parallels the poem. Both stories are cries from the heart. Oddly, the over the top vengeful tale ends better for the couple. The more spare poem better conveys the reality and the passion.

-- Anonymous, September 26, 2002

Moderation questions? read the FAQ