Edgar Allan Poe: Poems of Edgar Allan Poe

10. ANNABEL LEE

It was many and many a year ago,
    In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden 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.

I was a 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 the wingéd seraphs of Heaven
    Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
    In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud by night
    Chilling my ANNABEL LEE;
So that her high-born kinsmen came
    And bore her away from me,
To shut her up, in a sepulchre
    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, chilling
    And killing my ANNABEL LEE.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
    Of those who 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 see 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 her sepulchre there by the sea -
    In her tomb by the side of the sea.

1849