From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Annabel Lee" is the last complete poem^[1] composed by American author Edgar Allan Poe. Written in 1849, it was not published until shortly after Poe's death that same year.

Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Inspiration 3 Publication history 4 References in popular culture 4.1 Literature 4.2 Film and television 4.3 Music 4.4 Other 5 References 6 External links

"Annabel Lee" consists of six stanzas, three with six lines, one with seven, and two with eight, with the rhyme pattern differing slightly in each one.

Like another Poe poem, "The Raven", it tells of a man mourning a dead lover. The poem begins as if from a storyteller's point of view, wherein the author begins to explain the couple's love, which originates from their childhood. He believes that his love Annabel Lee dies because "the angels" envied the couple's great love. However, unlike "The Raven," in which the narrator believes he will "nevermore" be reunited with his love, "Annabel Lee" says the two will be together again, as not even demons "can ever dissever" their souls.

There is debate on the last line of the poem. The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore, Maryland has identified 11 different versions of the poem that were published between 1849 and 1850.^[2] However, the biggest different version vary in their final line:

Original manuscript - In her tomb by the side of the sea

Alternate version - In her tomb by the sounding sea

It is unclear whether the eponymous character Annabel Lee referred to a real person. Frances Sargent Osgood, a poet who exchanged poems with Poe in the Broadway Journal, expressed her belief that "Annabel Lee" was written for Poe's wife Virginia Clemm (who had died two years prior), while other critics, including T.O. Mabbott, believed that it was the product of Poe's gloomy imagination and that Annabel Lee was no real person in particular. A childhood sweetheart of Poe's named Sarah Elmira Royster believed the poem was written with her in mind.^[3] Sarah Helen Whitman and Sarah Anna Lewis also claimed to have inspired the poem.^[4]

"Annabel Lee" was first published as part of Poe's obituary in the New York Daily Tribune on October 9, 1849. This version was in the hands of Rufus Wilmot Griswold, Poe's literary executor and personal rival. Poe allegedly sent Griswold the copy (ending with "by the sounding sea") in a letter in June of 1849. The Southern Literary Messenger republished it (with the ending "by the side of the sea") in its November issue that year and, in January 1850, it was run by Sartrain's Magazine.

• Nabokov's Lolita features a character named Annabel Leigh, part of whose description is taken verbatim from the poem
• MAD Magazine, known for its parodies of poems, spoofed "Annabel Lee" with "The Ballad of Pamela Lee". It describes Pamela Anderson "by the sea" in her role from Baywatch, but is told from the narrative of a young man who is a true believer that he is meant to be with her. The poem also focused on the known brutalities of her ex-husband Tommy Lee and the on again-off again relationship. In the last verse of the poem, the narrator is arrested for trespassing on her property, and ends the poem by saying he was thrown in "the county jail next to her psychotic ex, Tommy Lee!"

• The film Heights features the poem Annabel Lee in slightly altered form.
• In the children's film Holes, part of the poem is read to a student by Miss Katherine Barlow (the school teacher) and by Sam (who rebuilds the school house).
• The first paragraph of the poem is recited in the 1992 independent vampire film Tale of a Vampire. This indicated that Annabel Lee is the inspiration of the story.

• Annabel Lee is the name used by an American artist and musician.
• The lyrics of the Joan Baez song Annabel Lee are taken directly from the Edgar Allan Poe poem with little change; the music was composed by Don Dilworth and the song was recorded on the 1967 album Joan (album).
• The Bright Eyes song Jetsabel Removes The Undesirables has references to the poem.
• The musical group The Crüxshadows perform Annabel Lee as spoken word.
• The Incubus single Anna-Molly includes the lyrics "this city by the sea...", suggesting a reference to the poem.
• The Lucyfire song Annabel Lee refers to the poem.
• The MC Lars song Mr. Raven refers to the poem.
• Marissa Nadler has an arrangement of Annabelle Lee in the album Ballads of Living and Dying.
• "Annabel Lee" is also a song by Tiger Army. It appeared on the album Tiger Army II: Power of Moonlite.
• "Annabel Lee" is also included as a song in a stage musical about Edgar Allan Poe called "Edgar," with lyrics directly from Poe's poem.
• The Spanish pop-rock band Radio Futura, in their 1987 album "La Canción de Juan Perro", included "Annabel Lee", whose lyrics are a Spanish version of the poem translated by lead singer Santiago Auserón.
• Progressive metal band Dream Theater released a song titled "Anna Lee" on their 1997 album Falling Into Infinity. There is said to be a slight similarity between the poem and song.

• The Dark Eye, a computer game released in 1995, contains a segment in which William S. Burroughs reads "Annabel Lee" accompanied by abstract images.
• "Annabel Lee" is a character in Steven Dietz's play "Still Life with Iris."
• A boxed set of Living Dead Dolls by Mezco Toyz featuring Edgar Allan Poe and Annabel Lee was released in early 2007.

1. ^ www.eapoe.org
2. ^ List of multiple version of Poe's poetry
3. ^ www.pambytes.com
4. ^ Sova, Dawn B. Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z. Checkmark Books, 2001. p. 12

• Audio - hear the poem

Edgar Allan Poe
Poems
Poetry (1824) • O, Tempora! O, Mores! (1825) • Song (1827) • Imitation (1827) • Spirits of the Dead (1827) • A Dream (1827) • Stanzas (1827) • Tamerlane (1827) • The Lake (1827) • Evening Star (1827) • A Dream (1827) • To Margaret (1827) • The Happiest Day (1827) • To The River —— (1828) (1828) • Romance (1829) • Fairy-Land (1829) • To Science (1829) • To Isaac Lea (1829) • Al Aaraaf (1829) • An Acrostic (1829) • Elizabeth (1829) • To Helen (1831) • A Paean (1831) • The Sleeper (1831) • The City in the Sea (1831) • The Valley of Unrest (1831) • Israfel (1831) • The Coliseum (1833) • Enigma (1833) • Fanny (1833) • Serenade (1833) • Song of Triumph from Epimanes (1833) • Latin Hymn (1833) • To One in Paradise (1833) • Hymn (1835) • Politician (1835) • May Queen Ode (1836) • Spiritual Song (1836) • Bridal Ballad (1837) • To Zante (1837) • The Haunted Palace (1839) • Silence, a Sonnet (1839) • Lines on Joe Locke (1843) • The Conqueror Worm (1843) • Lenore (1843) • Eulalie (1843) • A Campaign Song (1844) • Dream-Land (1844) • Impromptu. To Kate Carol (1845) • To Frances (1845) • The Divine Right of Kings (1845) • Epigram for Wall Street (1845) • The Raven (1845) • A Valentine (1846) • Beloved Physician (1847) • An Enigma (1847) • Deep in Earth (1847) • Ulalume (1847) • Lines on Ale (1848) • To Marie Louise (1848) • Evangeline (1848) • Eldorado (1849) • For Annie (1849) • The Bells (1849) • Annabel Lee (1849) • A Dream Within A Dream (1850) • Alone (1875)
Tales
Metzengerstein (1832) • The Duc De L'Omelette (1832) • A Tale of Jerusalem (1832) • Loss of Breath (1832) • Bon-Bon (1832) • MS. Found in a Bottle (1833) • The Assignation (1834) • Berenice (1835) • Morella (1835) • Lionizing (1835) • The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall (1835) • King Pest (1835) • Shadow - A Parable (1835) • Four Beasts in One - The Homo-Cameleopard (1836) • Mystification (1837) • Silence - A Fable (1837) • Ligeia (1838) • How to Write a Blackwood Article (1838) • A Predicament (1838) • The Devil in the Belfry (1839) • The Man That Was Used Up (1839) • The Fall of the House of Usher (1839) • William Wilson (1839) • The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion (1839) • Why the Little Frenchman Wears His Hand in a Sling (1840) • The Business Man (1840) • The Man of the Crowd (1840) • The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841) • A Descent into the Maelstrom (1841) • The Island of the Fay (1841) • The Colloquy of Monos and Una (1841) • Never Bet the Devil Your Head (1841) • Eleonora (1841) • Three Sundays in a Week (1841) • The Oval Portrait (1842) • The Masque of the Red Death (1842) • The Landscape Garden (1842) • The Mystery of Marie Roget (1842) • The Pit and the Pendulum (1842) • The Tell-Tale Heart (1843) • The Gold-Bug (1843) • The Black Cat (1843) • Diddling (1843) • The Spectacles (1844) • A Tale of the Ragged Mountains (1844) • The Premature Burial (1844) • Mesmeric Revelation (1844) • The Oblong Box (1844) • The Angel of the Odd (1844) • Thou Art the Man (1844) • The Literary Life of Thingum Bob, Esq. (1844) • The Purloined Letter (1844) • The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade (1845) • Some Words with a Mummy (1845) • The Power of Words (1845) • The Imp of the Perverse (1845) • The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether (1845) • The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar (1845) • The Sphinx (1846) • The Cask of Amontillado (1846) • The Domain of Arnheim (1847) • Mellonta Tauta (1849) • Hop-Frog (1849) • Von Kempelen and His Discovery (1849) • X-ing a Paragrab (1849) • Landor's Cottage (1849)
Other Works
Essays: Maelzel's Chess Player (1836) • The Daguerreotype (1840) • The Philosophy of Furniture (1840) • A Few Words on Secret Writing (1841) • The Rationale of Verse (1843) • Morning on the Wissahiccon (1844) • Old English Poetry (1845) • The Philosophy of Composition (1846) • The Poetic Principle (1846) • Eureka (1848) Hoaxes: • The Balloon-Hoax (1844) Novels: The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1837) • The Journal of Julius Rodman (1840) Plays: Scenes From 'Politian' (1835) Other: The Conchologist's First Book (1839) • The Light-House (1849)
This box: view • talk • edit