Tone Of Annabel Lee

“Annabel Lee” is the last poem written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1849 and was published posthumously. The poem follows Poe 's familiar theme of the grievous death of a young woman, in this poem the woman is “[the speaker 's] darling--[his] darling--[his] life and [his] bride”. Many believe that Virginia Clemm, who died suddenly and at a young age, much like Annabel Lee in the poem, was the source of inspiration for Poe. Much like the speaker, Edgar Allan Poe became troubled and dysfunctional after her death. “Annabel Lee” appears to explore the aforementioned ideas of his previous works; the sharp knife of death severing a young love affair; however, the poem delves deeper than superficial love. The traumatic death of Annabel Lee leaves the speaker

The light and pure story takes a tragic turn as “[A] wind came out of the cloud by night, chilling and killing [the speaker 's] Annabel Lee,” effectively creating a very successful villain. The speaker turns on “[The] angels, not half so happy in Heaven, went, envying [Annabel] and [the speaker]” painting those angels as the villains of this would be fairy-tale. The beings who children often think of as their guardians and protectors are now the devious, trivial villains in the speaker 's mind. The poem clearly delves into themes that are darker than a child 's bedtime story, as the villains achieve victory, not our heroes, the prince and the princess. The speaker, despite the adult themes, continues to act as a child would. Instead of accepting that Annabel died of natural causes, since “[A] wind blew out of a cloud, chilling [the speaker 's] beautiful Annabel Lee” indicating that she died on account of her environment, not a supernatural occurrence, he daftly blames beings that a child sees as pure and full of love. The speaker has yet to learn the lesson that things happen and that sometimes no one is to blame for the tragedy, especially not supernatural creatures. It is easier for the speaker to naively create a villain, a person to blame than to accept Annabel 's

The speaker 's state of mind still remains that of a child 's; however, he has now had to endure the death of his beloved and he has become akin to a child who has had his favorite toy taken away. The world has now lost all of the beauty it once had when Annabel Lee was still with him. The rest of the world has become pale in comparison, “The moon never beams, without bringing me dreams of the beautiful Annabel Lee;” the moon is now just a circle in the sky; it is a pale substitution of the light that Annabel once brought into his life. The shiny, bright, “Stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes of the beautiful Annabel Lee;” have only become a simple part of the night sky now that they are no longer able to sparkle and be reflected in Annabel 's eyes. Annabel has been taken away from him and he refuses to see the world around him, instead focusing on the sole fact that she is no longer there. The speaker no longer seems to find any beauty in the world, his idolization of Annabel has caused him to focus on only her and not of himself or any other object. He continues to cling to Annabel and the life that he wished they could have had together instead of moving on and finding something else to devote his time to. He “[lies] down by the side of [his] darling” as the poem draws to a close, never moving on with his life or growing