In Poe's
"," the author uses a great deal of figurative language. Figurative language is often
used in poetry. Figurative language, by definition, is not to be taken literally.
There are a great many examples of literary devices. For example,
note the use of repetition below, a device used many times in Poe's
poem:
She was a child and I was a
child... (7)
Literary devices dealing with sound are
easily recognized when the poem is read aloud. Refer to the stanza below:
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. (1-6)
End rhyme is
apparent in lines 2, 4 and 6 with the words "sea," "Lee" and "me."
Internal rhyme is found in the sixth stanza; note the use of
"beams" in the middle of the line that rhymes with "dreams" at the line's
end:
For the moon never beams without bringing me
dreams...
It occurs two lines later (using
"rise" and "eyes") with:
And the stars
never rise but I see the bright eyes
Assonance is found in line 5 with the words
"this," "lived" and "with." (The short "i" sound is the
same.) (the repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of a
group of words) is found with the repetition of the words "many" (in line 1) and
"loved" (in line 6).
In identifying figurative language, the reader
first recognizes the use of , used to create a picture in the reader's mind. Imagery is found,
for example, in .
Hyperbole is present in lines
11 and 12:
With a love that the winged seraphs of
heaven
Coveted her and me.
It can only be an exaggeration of the depth of their love to note that the angels covet
it, for there is no way to know this for certain; however, the speaker is using hyperbole to
show how deep and wonderful is the love the two share.
The reader sees it
again in the lines:
The angels, not half so happy in
heaven,
Went envying her and me
The lines above
almost seem paradoxical in their exaggeration. It is impossible, based upon our
definitions/perceptions of angels, to believe that angels would envy anything on earth when
compared to their heavenly existence. This is more evident in trying to conceptualize that the
angels would envy the love of humansespecially to the point that they would send a chilling wind
to kill the young womanan evil act.
First used in the late 16th Century,
"Once upon a time" has become a phrase generally associated with a fairytale. Often
this kind of story has mystical or magical elements (magic beans, a fairy godmother, etc.).
After using this introductory phrase, Poe continues establishing this mood with words such as
"kingdom" and "maiden," which are also associated with these kinds of tales.
Poe may well use this introduction to create a mood of something
supernatural, i.e., something beyond our natural world. However, unlike
most fairytales shared with youngsters before bedtime, this story goes beyond magical and
becomes haunting, with its sad ending at the loss of Annabel Lee.
If Annabel Lee has become one of Poes most popular poems, its popularity is probably
attributable to its haunting rhythm, its lulling repetition.
The lilting movement of the poem is yet another element of the poem that gives the
reader the sense of being in a fairytale. Except for theof the speaker's loss, this might well
serve as a bedtime story that would bring about easy sleep for the listener, as Poe creates a
haunting story, very much like a melody, using sound and imagery to capture the reader's
imagination.
The sound of the poem, then, is quiet,
rhythmic, hypnotic. It is this haunting sound, not the story itself, that causes most readers to
remember Annabel Lee.
Of the sounds and images
employed, perhaps the use of hyperbole is figurative language that most easily convinces the
reader that poetic license has been used in this poem. The presence of envious angels and
chilling winds that can be directed by one's will allow the reader to grasp that some elements
of the tale may be magical or like a fairytaleperhaps more so, giving us the feeling that the
love between the speaker and Annabel Lee was so amazing that the earth could not contain it, the
angels could not bear it and no one on earth (even those "older than we" or "far
wiser than we") could ever hope to experience anything like it.
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