This is probably one of Edgar Allan Poe's most renowned poems. Patricia Lynn selected this as her favorite poem by a renowned poet. Look for Patty's interview as the featured poet in June, 2003.  - poetheart 05/04/03

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 Annabelle 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 Annabelle Lee
With a love that winged seraphs of Heaven
   Coveted her and me

This was the reason that, long ago
   In this kingdom by the sea
That the winds came out of a cloud, chilling
   My beautiful Annabelle Lee
So that her highborn kinsmen came
   And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
   In this kingdom by the sea

The Angels, 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 a wind came out of a cloud by night
   Chilling and killing my Annabelle 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
Could never dissever my soul from the soul
   Of the beautiful Annabelle

For the moon never beams without giving me dreams
   Of the beautiful Annabelle Lee
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
   Of my beautiful Annabelle Lee.
And so, all the nighttide, I lie down by the side
   Of my darling! My darling, my life and my bride.
In her sepulchre, there by the sea,
   In her tomb, by the sounding sea.

by Edgar Allan Poe

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