Sound in Poetry - Poe's "Annabel Lee"

[mariecburt]

I believe the tones of this poem are dreamy, sweet and nostalgic. I do not see any tone of sadness, the author is describing his experiences as a precious object, with great love and detail. He remembers her as one remembers a favorite belonging in the past. He remembers her the same way one remembers a first love, with a lot of affection and longing and hoping that they are happy wherever they are.

The last words in every stanza are either me, Annabel Lee or sea. This shows the great love and unison between these two characters. The sea is the element that brings them together, the reader can also imagine the sound of the ocean in the background setting a soothing tone for the poem. I do not feel any other tone or sound in the poem, perhaps because I am too into the story to pay attention to those details.

-Marie Claire

[RodrigoCC]

The tone of the poem is just how Marie Claire described it: dreamy, peaceful, and nostalgic. He loved and loves her so much that he doesn't even miss her. He tells that the even the gods envied their relationship. Once a god envies your relationship I would say that you have already accomplished what no other human could possible do.

[juanmax]

1.) I would describe the tone of the poem with more than one word. Neverthless, the most essential tone of the poem is nostalgia. The poetic narrator clearly shows nostalgia towards the past love he shared with Annabel Lee. He is also sweet and dreamy, especially in the last few verses. He compares the stars with her eyes, the moon with her image, and says that he is always with her love no matter what angels and demons desire.
2.) 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 her sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea. This entire passage of the poem is interesting because it rhymes everywhere! There are rhymes in a same verse, but there are also rhymes outside other verses.

3.) The rhymes in this poem(like the ones right above) are an important part in the tone of the poem. The author's dreamy and sweet tone are enhanced by the rhymes, but they are not the sole explanation to the poem's tone. Max Boettner

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ August 22, 2007 05:37 PM: Message edited by: Juan Max Boettner ]</font>

[alexiacalo]

The tone of this poem is both sad and nostalgic. The poem is quite sad since Poe is lamenting the death of Annabel Lee, whom he loved deeply. He blames the envious angels for taking away his beloved Annabel Lee. However I think that the tone changes at the end as Poe describes how their love was stronger.

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

This demonstrates a sort of "triumph" as Maria Celeste said. The whole poem contains rymes. The repeating words of "sea", "lee" and "me" are seen in almost all stanzas. The continuos ryme of these repeated words create a somber and steady feeling which, in turn, emphasize a feeling of sadness and nostalgia.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ August 22, 2007 11:29 PM: Message edited by: alexiacalo ]</font>

[felavaz]

The tone of this poem can best be summarized by nostalgic: he is remembering what seems to be the love of his life that was stolen into heaven by jealous angels, according to him.

The element of sound I found to be most effective and interesting was the use of two alliterations. The word "love" is repeated constantly along the poem, and in the phrase "But we loved with a love that was more than love--" it is already said three times. Besides, the whole phrase "In this kingdom by the sea" appears in the first four stanzas.

Alliteration in this poem gives emphasis on whatever is being repeated. He emphasizes love because that is what he still feels towards this woman. I believe he emphasizes "In this kingdom by the sea" because that reign he talks about is what took Annabel Lee from him.

[felavaz]

The tone of this poem can best be summarized by nostalgic: he is remembering what seems to be the love of his life that was stolen into heaven by jealous angels, according to him.

The element of sound I found to be most effective and interesting was the use of two alliterations. The word "love" is repeated constantly along the poem, and in the phrase "But we loved with a love that was more than love--" it is already said three times. Besides, the whole phrase "In this kingdom by the sea" appears in the first four stanzas.

Alliteration in this poem gives emphasis on whatever is being repeated. He emphasizes love because that is what he still feels towards this woman. I believe he emphasizes "In this kingdom by the sea" because that reign he talks about is what took Annabel Lee from him.

[J tanner wade]

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 her sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Remember to always, always read a poem more than once. Three or four times is optimal.

Now that you've read it, I want you to first identify the tone of the poem. Remember that the tone is the speaker of the poem's attitude towards the subject of the poem. There are numerous possibilities. Here are some sample tone words:

Sad
Somber
Afraid
Happy
Joyful
Peaceful
Dreamy
Sweet
Nostalgic
Boring
Hollow
Childish
Confused

Secondly, identify one element of sound that you found in the poem. This could be a line or lines containing assonance or consonance, examples of rhyme, etc.

Finally, does the element of sound in any way help to create the tone you identified? If yes, how? If no, why not?

Enjoy.

the tone of this poem is definitely somber. although the beginning of the poem is upbeat and joyful, the second half is soley devoted to poe's jealousy and somberness of the angels that took his beloved annabel from him. one element of sound i found was an assonance of the letter L. the line reads "Chilling and Killing my annabel lee". and this quote definitely helps define the somber tone of the poem.

[mrodriguez]

This poem has a nostalgic tone. The narrator still loves this woman who is no longer with him, and apparently will forever do so. But the narrator also remembers the moments with her in a positive light and so there is also some joyful remembering.

There are several elements in this poem, the most obvious being a rhyme ending with the "e" sound in many lines of the poem. (sea, lee, me.. etc). This creates some of the joyful content in the poem since it is usually in positive lines like "Of the beautiful Annabel Lee", and " Than to love and be loved by me". There is consonance as well in this poem. For example the h in "The angels, not half so happy in heaven", This is a contrasting sound to the rhyming "e" as it is a bit more somber.

[tomt]

Enjoy.

thanks, for bringing this to Light ...

tomt