Sullivan’s Island, Charleston, South Carolina.
“I asked myself- “Of all melancholy topics what, according to the universal understanding of mankind, is the most melancholy?” Death, was the obvious reply. “And when,” I said, “is this most melancholy of topics most poetical?” From what I have already explained at some length the answer here also is obvious- “When it most closely allies itself to Beauty: the death then of a beautiful woman is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world, and equally is it beyond doubt that the lips best suited for such topic are those of a bereaved lover.”
Edgar Allan Poe
Poe has often been called the master of the macabre, but to me, a better title would the master of the melancholy. Annabel Lee was the last completed poem by Poe, and was published shortly after his death in 1849.
It deals with a love born in childhood, which the angels found so beautiful, they became jealous and snatched her away from the narrator. It’s not known if Poe had anyone in mind when composing the stanzas, though it’s often thought that he was thinking of his wife, Virginia, who died in 1847 of tuberculosis.
There is another theory, though no evidence exists of its authenticity.
Poe joined the army in 1827, and was sent to Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island, near Charleston, South Carolina. Already interested in literature and already writing, Poe is known to have haunted both the beaches of Sullivan’s Island, as well as the taverns of Charleston. It’s possible that there he heard the following story.
In the legend, a sailor meets a woman by the name of Annabel Lee. They would meet nightly in a graveyard, as her father disapproved of the union. Soon his time in Charleston was up, and he went back to sea. While there, Annabel contracts yellow fever and dies. Her lover, distraught, returns to Charleston for the funeral, but is turned away by her father, who also keeps the place of her internment a secret. So the lover keeps vigil for her in the cemetery where they used to have their moonlight assignations.
(Editor’s note: Alas, there doesn’t appear in fact to be any evidence of the truth of this legend. To learn more click here)
Annabel Lee
Edgar Allan Poe
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.
Hello, Im writing my thesis on Edgar Allan Poe’s poem Annabel Lee. I was wondering who wrote the section about “Poe in Charleston and the Legend of Annabel Lee”? Do you have any further information?
Thank you.
Rhiannon
Unfortunately no. I first heard the idea from a source who lives in Charleston, and have seen it alluded to several times in travel/ghost books on the city. But there is always very little evidence given to support the story. Good luck with the thesis. You might also check out a song which uses stanzas from the poem, by Marissa Nadler on Ballads of Living and Dying, which is nothing if not atmospheric.
Apparently many Charleston residents have shown that Annabel Lee Revanel was a real person whom Poe is supposed to have known while stationed on Sullivan Island, Charleston in 1827. It would appear that the inspiration for the poem, grief over the loss of his wife Virginia, became telescoped with the early Charleston incident. Poets sometimes use real people as inspiration – c.f. John Betjeman’s eponimous ‘Joan Hunter Dunn’ was a secretary who worked with the poet at one period. An example of the telescoping of two incidents (albeit in the same day) can be found in ‘Adlestrop’ by Edward Thomas.
I just looked up this song by Marissa Nadler! Thank you so much. I wish I can find a way to download it for free. This is a great article. you have done a wonderful job!
Certainly, find a way to download it for free. After all, 99 cents is so much to begrudge an artist who likely makes quite a bit less than you do. I’m certain your employer would love to get your work for free as well. Would you offer it?
Maybe you should find a way to be less sarcastic and more helpful. Apparently, I was not aware of the cost.