This poem is Poe's most famous mourning poem, written at 1849, in memory of his late wife Virginia. This poem is regarded as the pinnacle of Poe's lyric poetry. Gu Hongming, a famous scholar in China in the late Qing Dynasty, even thought that there were no poems in the United States except Annabel Leigh. Although the point of view is a little biased, we can also see that Annabel and Emily are attractive. The main content of this poem is that a long time ago, in a country by the sea, the poet and a girl named Annabel Lee were deeply in love, but their love was envied by the angel, who took the girl's life with the help of the cold wind. But in the poet's mind, both angels in heaven and demons in hell can take away lovers' lives, but they can't take away their beloved hearts. The moonlight in Ming Che accompanied the poet to dream of a beautiful lover, and the twinkling starlight made the poet seem to see her bright eyes. Whenever night falls and the tide rises, the poet comes to the cemetery of his lover by the sea, sleeps with her and listens to the waves of the sea with her. Poetry is pure, perfect and imaginative.

The poem has a beautiful rhyme, a strong sense of rhythm, and a deep sadness throughout, which typically embodies the principle of Poe's poetry creation, that is, the pursuit of musical beauty and melancholy beauty. In his poems, he adopted the beautiful female name "Annabel Lee", which not only reminds people of an elegant and dignified young woman, but also can be skillfully integrated into the rhythm of poetry. Annabel Lee has appeared seven times in total, and its melodious rhythm echoes monosyllabic words such as "sea", "we" and "I", which constitutes the only rhyme of this poem, leaving beautiful pictures in readers' minds, like songs with beautiful rhythm and melodious melody lingering in readers' ears.

The whole poem is permeated with a deep and melancholy beauty. The heroine in the poem is the embodiment of the poet's young dead wife Virginia. The sad love story itself deepens the melancholy beauty of the poem and expresses the poet's nostalgia and love for his beloved wife in do or die. The poem is like a dream. Distant and close memories eliminate the distance between life and death. Dreams and reality seem to blend together without boundaries, and poets are wandering and looking for them.

Although this poem is a love poem, it does not show the happy scene of lovers chasing each other in the sun, nor does it show the affectionate whispers between lovers in the moonlight, nor does it show a bright smile, nor does it show a sweet hug. Only the pale moon, bleak night and chilly wind, an ancient kingdom and a lonely grave by the sea, and the broken love between a pair of childhood lovers are displayed in front of readers. The whole poem creates a sad and touching artistic conception, like crying and complaining, which appropriately sets off the poet's loyalty to love. Poe used the three "R" principles of rhythm, rhythm and repetition to create this poem.

Rhythm and repetition

In the whole poem, he uses the long vowel /i:/ as the basic rhyme. For example, the first paragraph, the second line of the sea, the fourth luggage, and the sixth line of me. The second and third sections of this poem repeat the patterns of Hai, Li and me. In the fourth quarter, the order becomes me, Hai and Li. The fifth section uses We, we, sea and Lee. At the end of the poem are Li, Li, Hai, Hai. An obvious Chinese rhyme appears in the last line of the fourth section of the poem "Cold Heart Kill Me Annabel Lee".

Rhythm and repetition

The length of each line of a poem switches between long (generally 9 to 1 1 syllable) and short (generally 6 to 8 syllables). For example, in the first verse of this poem:

..... that was many, many years ago, (1 1 syllable)

..... in the kingdom by the sea, (7 syllables)

..... there lived a maid you might know (10 syllable).

..... named Annabel Lee (8 syllables)

..... and this maid lives without other thoughts (1 1 syllable).

..... thank you for my love and being loved. (8 syllables)

Poe's repeated use of this rhythm pattern in the whole poem may imply the ebb and flow of tides, which is consistent with the description of "the kingdom by the sea" in the poem. He repeatedly used some key words, such as in this seaside kingdom and my Annabel Lee (or my beautiful Annabel Lee) to create overlapping sentences. In addition, Poe sometimes uses some words repeatedly, such as (1) many, many years ago, (2) we love with a love beyond love, and (3) my dear-my dear.

Poe further improved the rhythm of poetry by using the repetition of consonants (alliteration). For example, in the second verse of this poem, "W" and "L" appear repeatedly: but we love with a kind of love beyond love.

Poe sometimes repeats consonants and vowels in pairs, for example, in Many Many, Love and Being Loved, Who is Older than Us.