Wednesday 15 May 2013

In "Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allan Poe, what are two references the narrator makes to Heaven?

The
two references to heaven are this stanza:

But we loved
with a love that was more than love
I and my
With
a love that the wing¨d seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.

and this:

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.

In both
these references, Poe paints a rather judgmental and negative image of heaven and its denizens.
Angels are typically presented as just, compassionate, and kind, but here, they are jealous of
the pure love between the speaker and Annabel. In fact, their jealousy is fatalthe speaker
believes they have literally killed Annabel out of spite for their love.

By
painting their love as opposed by heaven, Poe lends this ill-fated love a tragic bent. The
speaker and Annabel could be seen as star-cross'd lovers in how a greater power opposes their
being together on earth. His presentation of heaven could also be viewed as subversive, perhaps
glorifying earthly love above anything in heaven itself.

However, even heaven
cannot kill their love. The speaker is devoted to Annabel, sleeping beside her tomb and still
loving her even after her body is no more. He opposes not only the angels is heaven, but
"the demons under the sea" and Annabel's kinsmen, who entombed her body beside the
ocean.

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