Introduction: Beauty of Multirhythmic Poetry
The research paper analyzes the poem “Annabel Lee” that was written by a famous American poet, Edgar Allan Poe. The piece of poetry holds a wide recognition since it represents a bright example of multi rhythmic poem writing. Thus, it consists of six stanzas that create different expressive tendencies.
While analyzing this piece of poetry, one can deduce that it contains a wide range of stylistic devices. Consequently, the poem is of great interest for modern literary analysis, for it demonstrates a connection between poetry themes and formal means that illustrate these themes.
The Place of “Annabel Lee” among Edgar Poe’s Literary Works
Edgar Allan Poe: Short Biography
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Massachusetts, in 1809. A student at the University of Virginia, the poet had a wonderful opportunity to learn from the best American writers. The first Poe’s collection of poems “Tamerlane, and Other Poems” was published when the author was 18 years old. Since the book received much positive feedback, the poet started to sell his stories to numerous magazines and newspapers.
Later on, Edgar Allan Poe became a chief editor of the Southern Literary Messenger as well as worked for several literary journals such as Broadway Journal and Gentleman’s Magazine. His elaborated literary pieces of writing mark Poe as a predecessor of “art for art’s sake” (Meltzer 17). Therefore, the author’s works created a powerful impact on the establishment of a connection between content and literary form.
The Poet’s Literary Style
Edgar Allan Poe used multiple techniques while creating his works. The author’s fiction and poetic works are primarily characterized by mysteriousness. Thus, Poe is said to possess a dark style of writing, which often evokes fear and embarrassment. No wonder, the author is considered to be a father of American horror fiction. Its impact is evident in the analyzed poem as well and maybe revealed through the author’s description of Annabelle in a tomb.
Therefore, Poe’s writings contain some emotional intensity, which appeals to the readers. Moreover, the author often targets a theme of the human psyche. In his literary creations, Poe reflects on the matters of psychological explorations (“Poetry Foundation: Edgar Allan Poe” par. 5). Nevertheless, the primary feature of the author’s style is his usage of stylistic devices that creatively reveal certain facts and ideas. Thus, Poe’s writings possess the power to show the links between a concept and a form that embodies it.
A literary analysis of the poem
The piece of writing resembles a ballad. It has a multi rhythmic structure that creates a unique expressiveness of every stanza. Thus, every part of the poem possesses its mood, despite the idea of love is reiterated in each stanza. The themes that are represented by the poet treat various subjects. Primarily, these are the idea of unity with nature, the concepts of eternal love and afterlife feelings as well as envy and death.
The major stylistic devices that make the poem emotional are repetition and personalization. With a help of frequent reiterations of words and syntactic constructions, the author emphasizes his strong feelings to Annabel: “of my darling, my darling, my life, and my bride” (Poe 495). One can notice that the poem comprises a lot of examples of personalization: “wind came out”, “stars never rise” (Poe 495). In this case, the stylistic device helps the author to demonstrate an intrusion of natural forces into human feelings. Thus, Poe explains that eternal love has strong power. That is why, nothing, except for nature, can destroy it.
Since the outcome of the story is meant to be grievous, Edgar Poe uses negative connotations in the body of the poem so that to predict its finale. Mainly, the poet employs the verb “covet”, for it denotes a sinful desire. In this context, the word also serves as a foreshadowing. Therefore, the author means that lovers should not belong to each other. That is why divine forces intend to break their love.
Edgar Poe employs assonance and alliteration to enhance the melodic quality of the words. For instance, assonance can be recognized in a line “it was many and many a year ago”. The name of the main character, Annabel Lee, is marked with alliteration, which shows the author’s tender attitude towards this woman.
To put a strong emphasis upon his feelings to Annabel, the author also uses understatement in the following sentence: “for the moon never beams without bringing me dreams of the beautiful Annabel Lee” (Poe 495).
Conclusion: “Annabel Lee” as a Masterpiece of American Poetry
The analyzed poem serves as an outstanding illustration of emotional poetry. Thus, the author managed to represent a wide range of feelings through multi rhythmic patterns and literary devices. According to the study of stylistic elements, it was deduced that the piece of writing is primarily remarkable for such devices as repetitions, personalization, assonance, and alliteration. Moreover, it presents some examples of connotation, understatement, and foreshadowing.
Works Cited
Meltzer, Milton. Edgar Allan Poe: A Biography, Minneapolis, Minnesota: Twenty-First Century Books, 2013. Print.
Poe, Edgar Allan. “Literature: A Portable Anthology.” Annabel Lee. Ed. Janet Gardiner. Boston, New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. 494-495. Print.
Poetry Foundation: Edgar Allan Poe 2011. Web.