Romanticism
Romanticism was a literary and artistic movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century and ended around the end of the 19th century. Romanticism can be classified as a reaction to the Industrial Revolution, a revolt against aristocratic social norms of the Age of the Enlightenment, and a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature. Romanticism arts, music, and literature had considerable effects on politics and was at the time associated with liberalism and radicalism. Romantic period poets like William Shakespeare, John Keats, and Edgar Allan Poe often wrote about love, the beauty of nature, and the changing social structure of the late 18th and 19th centuries. Click the button below to read Edgar Allan Poe's poem Annabel Lee.
Poem Analysis
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Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe is a splendid, yet painful memory. The speaker is recalling a memory of his long-lost love, Annabel Lee. While reading the poem I came across many examples of what I believed to be symbolism. One example is Annabel Lee, she represents pure love and beauty that is impossible to hold on to. In the poem there are no physical descriptions of Annabel Lee, there are only descriptions of the love she had for the speaker. This suggest that the love the speaker and Annabel Lee shared was not largely based on physical attraction. In line 26 of the poem it states, that the cool wind of the night killed Annabel Lee. Annabel Lee's death was the death of the purist love known to mankind, which suggest that pure love and beauty are not meant to be possessed by ordinary man. Another symbol in Annabel Lee are the angels/seraphs that oddly represent the evil and envy. In lines 11-12 the speaker says that the angels coveted the love he and Annabel Lee share. I figured that the reason the seraphs were jealous of the speaker and Annabel Lee because they would never again experience the thrill of true love, because they are immortals. Their envy eventually led the angels to kill Annabel Lee thus leaving the speaker alone forever, mournig the loss of his "beautiful Annabel Lee."
Literary Devices
- Symbolism is a recurring literary device in Edgar Allan Poe's poem Annabel Lee. An example of a symbol in Annabel Lee is the kingdom. In the beginning of the poem the kingdom represents a fairy tale world where love and eternal happiness can be achieved. Later in the poem in line 20 the kingdom is mentioned again, but this time it is mentioned after the incident with the "highborn kinsman." This encounter changes the image of the kingdom to a place where the rich and powerful are in complete control of the affairs of the people. The change in symbolism indicates a transformation in the mood of the poem. The poem switches from being an optimistic love story to a story about a lost love.
- In lines 4-6 of Annabel Lee Poe uses a hyperbole. In the lines the speaker uses an exaggeration to describe the amount of love his dear Annabel Lee had for him. In the lines it states,"By the name of ANNABEL LEE; And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me." Literally this quote means that all Annabel Lee thinks about is her love for the speaker, figuratively this quote is saying that Annabel Lee has a great amount of love for the speaker.