IB English
October 24th, 2012
October 24th, 2012
Paragraph on rhetorical devices in “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe
The poem starts with the narrator’s flashback (line 1) on the innocent, young, and unworried devotion of him and his beloved Annabel Lee to each other. In the second stanza, it turns out that Annabel Lee died because of angels who envied their love which was so strong; her parting is the climax of the poem. The fifth stanza includes the corresponding resolution as the narrator declares that “neither the angels in heaven above nor the demons down under the sea can ever dissever” (line 30 – 32) his and her souls. The angels and demons are metonymies and stand for any higher power beyond nature, so it can be concluded that the narrator’s love for Annabel Lee surpasses the power of divine beings. It could be assumed that Annabel Lee comes from a noble family, as the setting is “a kingdom by the sea” (line 2) and when she dies her “high-born kinsman” (line 17) takes her to the ground. The “high-born kinsman” is a flat character, which hints on that the two lovers lived only for themselves and nobody else was important for them. The term “in a kingdom by the sea” is repeated in almost every stanza and emphasizes the impression of that the love has infinite strength, since the connotation of sea is endlessly wide and all-encompassing.
The above discussed rhetorical devices greatly convey the overall tone of the elegy. It becomes clear how tragedic the happening is; the death of Annabel Lee takes the narrator’s most precious thing away from him. It is almost stereotypical romantic that he is still so faithful to her eventhough she has passed away. Through the climatic structure and desperate yet valiant tone, empathy is evoked in the reader.
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