Alex Kannel
ENH 241
Poe’s Tale

Romanticism began during the second part of the eighteenth century. It was a way for artists to express their creative freedom and political views against leaders and revolutionists during this era. In the literature aspect, the writing tended to focus greatly on aesthetic experience, people in nature, and innovative examinations of emotions (Romanticism). The first well known writer from this era was Washington Irving, with his great fiction tales The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. After him authors came flooding from all corners of the United States, perhaps in similar style but more widely know was Edgar Allan Poe. (Wikipedia)
Edgar Allan Poe is famous today for his gruesome tales and poems, which are likely to be the type of scary story told around a camp fire. It is said that he was a writer from a young age. After surviving a tragic childhood, both of his parents die as does his brother, and his sister is declared mentally insane; he is taken to live with his Aunt. Here he meets his future wife, his cousin Virginia Clemm (Biography). They marry when she is just thirteen. However she dies tragically at a young age from a medical ailment leaving him alone. He has already begun publishing some writings.
Poe has often been referred to as one who is eccentric. However this is not a bad quality. Eccentricity can often enhance a persons attributes, in Poe’s case his writing style. After his wife died he became more of a hermit, contributing to this idea.
“Eccentricity is often associated with genius, giftedness, or creativity. The individual's eccentric behavior is perceived to be the outward expression of his or her unique intelligence or creative impulse” (Eccentricity). This is exactly how Poe was viewed in terms of his writing, it was a type of creative genius, and his eccentricity only enhanced this. This can be seen in the poem Annabel Lee; the structure of how it is written is perfect with such intent and skill. However, the eccentricity comes in with the actual content when he writes,
“And so all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling - my darling – my life and my bride,
In her sepulcher there by the sea
In her tomb by the sounding sea (Poe).

Here is describing how this person is so saddened by the death of their love that they go and lie by her tomb every night, just to be with her.
Annabel Lee was one of his last poems that he published before his death. It was a tribute to his wife Virginia. In the poem it describes how two people loved each other greatly. Because of this his wife was taken away and killed. So every night he would come visit her tomb by the see and lay with her. In this poem Poe writes with a deliberate rhyme scheme and rhythm. “In this kingdom be the sea, A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling My beautiful Annabel Lee” (Poe). This is an example of Poe’s Rhyme and Rhythm scheme from Annabel Lee. “Rhythm is produced by the repetition of unstressed and stressed syllables” (Shuyler). It’s what makes the poem sing-songy. There are many different names and forms of rhythm for poem, and each one uses different combinations of words.
Not only does this poem have great representation of rhythm but also it is a great example of what exactly a romantic writer wrote about. Poe does a great job relaying the aesthetics and emotions in his poem. “That the wind came out of the cloud by night, Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee” (Annabel). In this line it’s as if we were there too, although it is a fictional tale he makes it very real with his description.


“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” (Annabel).

In these two lines it’s almost as if one could reach out it touch the moon and his dreams. He gets his ideas across in a very specific manner. This was exactly what Romantic authors wanted to do, convey themselves the best they could. Edgar Allan Poe did just that, even if his tales were gruesome, they were a portrait of his expressions.