So I walked into my living room this evening to grab a book and saw this guys sitting on my entertainment center. I gave his head a tap and chuckled a little and then took the Poe anthology from beneath him and walked out. This wasn't even the book I walked in for but now here I am reading it again. He is probably my favorite poet. I got hooked after reading Anabelle Lee.
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;
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.
Edgar Allan Poe
I love how you can feel his hurt, his longing, his desire dripping from the words. Then by the second stanza the dread and sorrow creep in. As he talks of his love it's almost as if you can see her. I believe this is the mark of a great writer. If you feel or see what they are talking about just by the words then they have done their job and you are more likely to remember the writing. The writer will have left a mark even if they are long gone, like my dear friend Edgar here. Hats off to you Mr. Poe I hold you near and dear to me and find inspiration in your work,
