Friday, September 13, 2013

The full text of Poe's "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.
She was a child and I 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 by night
      chilling my 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 a cloud, 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.

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