in what figurative terms does the speaker frame his love and his loss and how is this intended

The
poem byutilizes primarily dreamliketo evoke a strong sense of fairy-tale ambiance. Poe does
this to emphasize the ethereal and otherworldly passion that the speaker in the poem feels for
his beloved €“ despite the fact that they are both very young (or perhaps because of it, bearing
in mind that fairy-tales often depict how unrestrained children experience the world). As in
many other Poes poems and stories and in keeping with the Romantic tradition, the narrative
component serves mainly as framework for his contemplation on themes of devotion, loss, grief,
and despair.

References to the kingdom by the sea and the love so great
that it becomes the envy of The angels, not half so happy in Heaven inspire a sense of wonder
and awe, while at the same time suggesting supernatural, even Biblical notions which are
metaphors for the exceptional quality of feeling shared by the doomed, young lovers.

Obviously, the most figurative of all elements in the poem is the speakers conceit that
his beloved has died because their love has caused jealousy of higher beings. Here Poe combines
fairy-tale, myth and Gothic motifs with the psychological desperation of a disturbed man who
needs to find a profound reason for the loss of his love. In other words,
by transferring his own emotions onto a figurative plain, the speaker himself uses hyperbolicfor
explaining away Annabel Lees death in terms that will make some sort of sense and offer at least
a semblance of solace. Poe builds upon this need of the speaker to conceptualize further the
poems leitmotifs into a dirge-like anthem. Thus, the figurative and largely fantastical frame of
the poem becomes the vehicle for conveying not just the aforementioned themes but also the
extreme emotions that the speaker expresses.