At some point in our lives, we all face loss—of someone we love, our favorite pet, or even a cherished dream. But even though the experience of loss is universal, people can choose many different ways to cope with the sadness and grief they feel. What do people need to do to face their grief and move on?
Edgar Allan Poe lived a life as tragic as the lives he describes in some of his famous horror tales and poems. Like the speaker of “Annabel Lee,” Poe experienced great loss in his life.
• Poe’s mother, Elizabeth Arnold Poe, died of tuberculosis, a disease of the lungs, when he was only two years old. After her death, Poe and his sister, Rosalie, were separated and taken in by two different families.
• Poe’s first love, Sarah Elmira Royster, became engaged to another man while Poe was a university student.
• In 1836 Poe married Virginia Clemm, pictured below. His love for her was the one shining light in his life. Many people believe that Poe wrote “Annabel Lee” after Virginia died of tuberculosis.
I can identify rhyme scheme within the poem.
I can identify Poe's style.
I can identify repetition and the rhythm of the poem.
I can identify sound devices like alliteration, onomatopoeia, consonance, and assonance and discuss how they create different effects in a poem.
I can identify the literary device allusion and discuss how the work to develop a theme in the poem.
I can identify the mood in The Raven and discuss how the mood is created by Poe.
First published in 1845, “The Raven” became an instant hit. Part of the poem’s popularity was due to Poe’s clever use of sound devices, patterns of word sounds used to create musical effects.
• Rhyme, the repetition of similar sounds, is one of the easiest sound devices to spot. Poe adds variety by using internal rhyme, rhyming words that fall inside a line. Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;
• Repetition, of rhymes and of words and phrases, helps give “The Raven” its distinctive rhythm. As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
• Alliteration, the repetition of initial consonant sounds, is used to create rhythm or to stress key words. While I nodded, nearly napping . . .
• Onomatopoeia is the use of words that sound like their meaning, such as the word rustling in this example: And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain As you read, note how Poe combines these sound devices to form complex rhythmic patterns.
end rhyme
rhyme scheme
internal rhyme
symbol
2. days of yore: days of long ago.
3. obeisance (I-bAPsEns): a gesture of respect.
4. mien (mCn): appearance.
5. bust of Pallas: statue of the head and shoulders of Pallas Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom.
6. craven: coward.
7. Plutonian: having to do with Pluto, Roman god of the dead and ruler of the underworld.
Setting and Mood tutorial: https://my.hrw.com/la_2010/na_lit/student/levelup/lit214/shell.html
Prezi on The Raven: https://www.teachersfirst.com/lessons/raven/st13.cfm
Song verion of Annabel Lee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWvZDb7vb_0&list=RDgWvZDb7vb_0&start_radio=1&t=64
"Annabel Lee" textbook packet: https://surry.learning.powerschool.com/svamaster/scscreditrecoveryenglishi/cms_page/view/18863931
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
“’Tis some visiter,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more.”
Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
Nameless here for evermore.
And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
“’Tis some visiter entreating entrance at my chamber door—
Some late visiter entreating entrance at my chamber door;—
This it is and nothing more.”
Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
“Sir,” said I, “or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you”—here I opened wide the door;—
Darkness there and nothing more.
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, “Lenore?”
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, “Lenore!”—
Merely this and nothing more.
Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
“Surely,” said I, “surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore—
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;—
’Tis the wind and nothing more!”
Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore;
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door—
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door—
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.
Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
“Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,” I said, “art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore—
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”
Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning—little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door—
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as “Nevermore.”
But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing farther then he uttered—not a feather then he fluttered—
Till I scarcely more than muttered “Other friends have flown before—
On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before.”
Then the bird said “Nevermore.”
Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
“Doubtless,” said I, “what it utters is its only stock and store
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore—
Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore
Of ‘Never—nevermore’.”
But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore—
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking “Nevermore.”
This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom’s core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion’s velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o’er,
But whose velvet-violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o’er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!
Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
“Wretch,” I cried, “thy God hath lent thee—by these angels he hath sent thee
Respite—respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore;
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”
“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!—
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted—
On this home by Horror haunted—tell me truly, I implore—
Is there—is there balm in Gilead?—tell me—tell me, I implore!”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”
“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us—by that God we both adore—
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore.”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”
“Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I shrieked, upstarting—
“Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”
And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted—nevermore!
Who is the author:
Approximately what year was the poem published?
What is the setting of the poem?
What effect does the setting have on the mood of the poem?
Who is the speaker:
Alliteration
Define:
Example:
Repetition
Define:
Example:
What effect does the repetition have on message of the poem?
Assonance
Define:
Example:
What effect does the assonance have on the mood of the poem?
Allusion
Define:
Example 1:
Explain the example:
Example 2:
Explain the example:
What is a theme (message) of “The Raven”?
What features of the poem fit with the characteristics of the Romantic Movement?
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 the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
Respond and Think Critically
1. What is the relationship between the speaker and Annabel Lee? What happened to Annabel Lee? Explain. [Recall]
2. What do you learn about the speaker of the poem? How did Annabel Lee feel about the speaker? Support your answer with details from the poem. [Infer]
3. According to the speaker, why did Annabel Lee experience the fate she did? Explain. [Paraphrase]
4. To be idealized means “to be made a model of perfection.” Do you think that the speaker of the poem has idealized Annabel Lee? Explain. [Interpret]
5. How realistic does this poem seem to you? Can you imagine a real-life person experiencing the same thoughts and emotions as does the speaker? Explain. [Evaluate]
Practice with Literary Terms and Concepts
1. Alliteration
Example:
2. Repetition
Example:
3. Imagery
Example:
4. Personification
Example:
5. What is the theme (message) of “Annabelle Lee”? You don’t have to use a formal RACE. Just answer and use one piece of textual evidence.
6. How does this poem’s features fit with the characteristics of the Romantic Movement?
7. Rhyme is the repetition of sounds at the ends of words that appear close to each other in a poem. When poets use a pattern of rhyme formed by the end rhyme in a poem, they create a rhyme scheme. For example, notice the rhyming words in these lines from “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;—
The first four lines of stanza one have a rhyme scheme of abab.
What is the complete rhyme scheme of stanza one?
Which words rhyme in stanza two of the poem?
What does rhyme add to the poem’s effect? Are there ideas that rhyme helps to emphasize? Explain.
Rhythm and Rhyme Grab Bag
Poe uses a variety of different poetic techniques in this poem. The first thing to notice is the poem is broken into different sections. These groups of lines are called stanzas. The first one ends with line 6. There are a total of six stanzas in this poem.
The other important thing to notice right off the bat is that in almost every case, the poem is made up pairs of long and short lines. First you get a long line, then a short line, and so on. The lines aren't always the same length, but they tend to go long/short/long/short, etc. But then, in a few spots, Poe switches it up. Look at lines 28 and 29, for example – two "shorts" in a row. You don't have to catch every one of these tricks to enjoy the poem and understand it, but it's good to have your eye open for patterns, and then to look for the ways that they change.
Another big tool is rhyme, and that's another place where Poe sets up a basic pattern and then plays with it a fair amount. The long lines sometimes rhyme, and sometimes don't, but the short lines always end in the same sound. Here's a quick example from the first stanza (we'll use letters to represent the rhymes):
It was many and many a year ago, A
In a kingdom by the sea, B
That a maiden there lived whom you may know A
By the name of Annabel Lee; B
And this maiden she lived with no other thought C
Than to love and be loved by me. B
See how that works? Sometimes the ends of the long lines don't rhyme with anything else in the poem (like "thought" at the end of line 5). On the other hand, the short lines always end in an ee sound. In fact, Poe only uses four words to end the short lines: "sea," "Lee," "we" and "me."
Finally, let's take a look at the meter. This is where Poe gets fancy – you could probably teach a whole English class on this poem. We won't drag you through every line, but it's worth a peek, because Poe was interested in how poems fit together, and the effect that meter could have on a reader. We'll show you two of the gadgets in his poetic toolbox. In the first lines, he mixes what's called an anapest (which is two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable) with what's called an iamb (which is the meter you hear most commonly in poetry, an unstressed syllable followed by a stress). Don't worry, we'll show you how it works. Let's start with that first line:
It was ma/ny and ma/ny a year/ ago/,
The first three groups have three syllables each, and each one ends with a stressed beat (shown in bold). Those are the anapests. The last group (or foot) only has two syllables – that's your iamb. Same trick in the next line:
In a king/dom by/ the sea/
That's an anapest followed by two iambs. We'll resist the urge to dissect every line, but let's look at one more spot. The last stanza (lines 34-41) is made up almost completely of anapests. If you want to impress someone you could tell them that it alternates between anapestic tetrameter (four anapests per line) and anapestic trimeter (3 per line). The main thing to remember is the rhythm, which goes: da da DUM, da da DUM, da da DUM. Let's try it out one last time, with just the first four lines:
For the moon/ never beams,/ without bring/ing me dreams/
Of the beau/tiful Ann/abel Lee;/
And the stars/ never rise,/ but I feel/ the bright eyes/
Of the beau/tiful Ann/abel Lee;/
Voila, now you're a master of anapests. What good is that, you ask? Well, we think having a name for this meter and being able to see it helps us to understand all the careful work that Poe did to make "Annabel Lee" sound the way it does. That should make the experience of reading it more textured and alive.