Loss As Expressed in Edgar Allen Poe’s Annabel Lee Essay -- Edgar Alle

Loss As Expressed in Edgar Allen Poe’s Annabel Lee The death of Edgar Allen Poe’s young bride prompted a wealth of bitter resentment in the writer. While this is evidenced in many of his works, nowhere is his antipathy more explicit than in the poem, â€Å"Annabel Lee†. It is apparent from reading lines such as â€Å"the winds came out of a cloud, chilling My beautiful Annabel Lee† that Poe feels that he is somehow cursed and that the heavens stole his joy because the angels’ own discontent caused them to delight in destroying the happiness of others. This is further confirmed, and perhaps most overtly so, by the line, â€Å"The Angels, half so happy in Heaven, Went envying her and me†. For Poe, reality and fantasy seem to be intrinsically entwined (Postema, 1991). He seems to view the scenario of jealous angels stealing his love away as incontrovertible fact, rather than simply a manifestation of his rage, which it so obviously is. When he writes, â€Å"For the moon never beams without giving me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee†, he seems to be aware of the distinction between fantasy and reality, however this is his only lucid moment. In addition to its alluring content, the language of the poem also serves to immerse the reader into Poe's fantasy-like realm of the transcendent love he shared with his child bride. Throughout the poem, Poe writes primarily with â€Å"a combination of iambic and anapestic feet, alternating between tetrameter and trimeter†. (Carlson, 1987) The word "chilling," in both places it is used, lines fifteen and twenty-five, retains a jarring meter. This, along with the capitalization of ANNABEL LEE, is done most probably to ensure that the death of Poe's loved one disturbs the rhythm of the poem and startles... ...ear especially stark contrast to the simplistic settings and language used to describe the author’s perspective of his surroundings. Edgar Allen Poe was a man beleaguered with personal tragedy and besieged by the more unpleasant experiences of life. His certainty that fate had dealt him a bad hand served to fuel his rage, his alcoholism and his entire mission of self-destruction. However it also served to inspire him to write some of the most thought provoking and emotionally provocative poetry in the history of literature. WORKS CITED Carlson, Eric W., ed. Critical Essays on Edgar A. Poe. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1987 Postema, James. "Edgar A. Poe's Control of Readers: Formal Pressures in Poe's Dream Poems." Essays in Literature 18.1 (Spring 1991): 68-76. Regan, Robert, ed. Poe; a Collection of Critical Essays . Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1967. Loss As Expressed in Edgar Allen Poe’s Annabel Lee Essay -- Edgar Alle Loss As Expressed in Edgar Allen Poe’s Annabel Lee The death of Edgar Allen Poe’s young bride prompted a wealth of bitter resentment in the writer. While this is evidenced in many of his works, nowhere is his antipathy more explicit than in the poem, â€Å"Annabel Lee†. It is apparent from reading lines such as â€Å"the winds came out of a cloud, chilling My beautiful Annabel Lee† that Poe feels that he is somehow cursed and that the heavens stole his joy because the angels’ own discontent caused them to delight in destroying the happiness of others. This is further confirmed, and perhaps most overtly so, by the line, â€Å"The Angels, half so happy in Heaven, Went envying her and me†. For Poe, reality and fantasy seem to be intrinsically entwined (Postema, 1991). He seems to view the scenario of jealous angels stealing his love away as incontrovertible fact, rather than simply a manifestation of his rage, which it so obviously is. When he writes, â€Å"For the moon never beams without giving me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee†, he seems to be aware of the distinction between fantasy and reality, however this is his only lucid moment. In addition to its alluring content, the language of the poem also serves to immerse the reader into Poe's fantasy-like realm of the transcendent love he shared with his child bride. Throughout the poem, Poe writes primarily with â€Å"a combination of iambic and anapestic feet, alternating between tetrameter and trimeter†. (Carlson, 1987) The word "chilling," in both places it is used, lines fifteen and twenty-five, retains a jarring meter. This, along with the capitalization of ANNABEL LEE, is done most probably to ensure that the death of Poe's loved one disturbs the rhythm of the poem and startles... ...ear especially stark contrast to the simplistic settings and language used to describe the author’s perspective of his surroundings. Edgar Allen Poe was a man beleaguered with personal tragedy and besieged by the more unpleasant experiences of life. His certainty that fate had dealt him a bad hand served to fuel his rage, his alcoholism and his entire mission of self-destruction. However it also served to inspire him to write some of the most thought provoking and emotionally provocative poetry in the history of literature. WORKS CITED Carlson, Eric W., ed. Critical Essays on Edgar A. Poe. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1987 Postema, James. "Edgar A. Poe's Control of Readers: Formal Pressures in Poe's Dream Poems." Essays in Literature 18.1 (Spring 1991): 68-76. Regan, Robert, ed. Poe; a Collection of Critical Essays . Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1967.