It was many and many a year ago, in a kingdom by the sea, that a maiden there lived whom you may know, by the name of Annabel Lee note
Annabel Lee is a narrative poem in the Gothic Horror genre, and the last complete poem, written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1849. It wasn't published until shortly after Poe's death within the same year.
The poem is told by a narrator who intensely loved Annabel Lee since many years ago in a "kingdom by the sea". Later, she dies, which he believes were caused by the angels in the heavens because he believed them jealous of her. Despite the tragedy, he holds onto his love for Annabel.
A list of adaptations can be found here.
Annabel Lee lived with no other thoughts than to love and be loved by tropes:
- Childhood Friend Romance: The narrator and Annabel were childhood friends when they fell in love.
- I Love the Dead: Every night, the narrator lies down beside Annabel's tomb.
- Lost Lenore: Another example of a beautiful woman beloved who died, leaving her partner heartbroken. Unlike the narrator of The Raven (1845), though, he holds onto hope for an eventual reunion with his beloved.
- Mummies at the Dinner Table: Every night, after her passing, the narrator would sit by her side in her tomb by the sea.
- No Name Given: The narrator's name is never presented throughout the poem, but Annabel is the focus of the subject told from his perspective.
- Rage Against the Heavens: The narrator believes that Annabel's illness was caused by jealous angels who compromised her health with a chill wind.
- Through the Eyes of Madness: The narrator rationalizes that Annabel's beauty and their love for each other made the angels envious of them, and it was the angels that caused her death.
- Together in Death: The narrator believes that he and Annabel will be together again, as not even demons "can ever dissever" their souls.
- Victorian Novel Disease: Annabel died due to exposure to a cold wind that caused her to fall ill until her death.