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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 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 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 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.

 

— The Complete Poetical Works of Edgar Allan Poe, by John Ingram

 

Sepulchre = Burial Chamber

   
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