Gee I wonder who the poet of today might be. Sorry about the bad pun, I just couldn’t resist myself. Although apparently now my friend Matt will bring the wrath of Twitter down upon me in a fury of mockery. Bring it on Matt, Bring it on.
If you haven’t figured out by now I thought today I would share a poem by Edgar Allan Poe. Now, my favorite poem by Poe is The Raven. However, it is a really long poem and posting it on this website seems a little over kill and I am sure that many of my reader have probably read it at one point or another. If you for some reason have never read The Raven, I highly recommend it as it is really my favorite poem of all time. You can find it HERE.
I am not really sure what first drew me to Poe. It may have been a class assignment or may have just been me being bored in the library one day. I have always been a fan of horror. I grew up reading R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series (Phantom of the Auditorium and Piano Lessons Can Be Murder were two of my favorites) as well as Stephen King. A little bit of a jump in maturity level but I loved them all. However, Poe was something different. He was old school horror. A type of horror that I wish was still used rather than this trend of who can make the bloodiest movie around. Books aren’t as bad but recently the one person who reminds me of Poe is H.P. Lovecraft and he really isn’t that recent. Lovecraft is another great author if you haven’t read him. It is through his mind that the monster Cthulu was born.
Ok getting back to Poe. I could go and give you a whole biography of the man, but if you are really desperate to find out about his life, I recommend finding a biography of the man or simply looking him up on Wikipedia. So, since The Raven is a super long poem I thought that I would go with my second favorite Poe poem Annabel Lee. This is sort of a love poem about a man’s love for Annabel Lee. Now as sweet as that sounds, in my opinion it gets a little creepy. Because Annabel Lee dies and is buried in a tomb. Yet this guy “remains by her side.” I read the end as him either being creepy and sleeping next to a dead corpse or him pulling a Romeo and Juliet and killing himself next to her so that they are together forever. I could be completely off and if I am, feel free to tell me. I am no poetry expert; just have a love for it. In all seriousness though, I think one of the reasons I like this poem is the thought that two souls can be entwined for eternity. That there is someone out there meant just for you and it kills you if you are away from them for even a moment. So, without further hesitation I give you Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe.
Annabel Lee
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;
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 winged 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, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman 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 by night,
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 feel 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 the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
Hopefully there will be more post next week than just poetry Friday. It has been a busy week and I just haven’t gotten around to writing. The ideas are there, just not the time. As always, if you would like me to feature one of you poems on this site feel free to email me at justinandzoe85@gmail.com. Have a wonderful weekend everyone and I will see you all next week.
A Bit of Randomness 
#1 by mthomasmaenpaa on March 18, 2011 - 5:57 pm
One of my favorite bands, Tiger Army, reimagined Annabel Lee in song:
Oh Annabel Lee, forever in my dreams.
You know you’ve still got a piece of my heart.
You’ve had it right from the start.
Oh Annabel Lee, stop haunting my dreams.
Yours is the face that I see in the dark, in the dark.
Into the darkness,
farther, my heart slips.
Into the darkness,
into the sea.
Oh Annabel Lee, the ocean calls to me.
In the spring when our love had its start.
Oh Annabel Lee,forever trapped by the memories,
in the sepulchre of my heart.
Black cats they scurry by in the night.
They tell me where you are.
In the chill of november
and now the kingdom is in ruins.
Just a memory like you and me.
Will you release me?
Into the darkness,
farther, my heart slips.
Into the darkness,
into the sea.
Oh Annabel Lee, those nights seem so long ago.
When my heart didn’t feel so old.
Oh Annabel Lee, call your name for eternity.
Long as the stars shall burn and the moon glows.
The ocean whispers in night air
and you once were with me there.
Do you remember?
And I’m speaking your name.
Though it’s over, think of me.
Will you release me?
Into the darkness,
farther, my heart slips.
Into the darkness,
into the sea.