College of Education

ENG118- Survey of English and American Literature

1st Semester, AY 2022-2023
Emmanuel D. Dayalo, EdD, Course Facilitator

Activity 3

Name: MARCHELLE T. CABE Course/Year/Section: BSED ENGLISH 3B

1. How "death" became so significant to Edgar Allan Poe in writing the poem Annabel Lee as an
author and to his wife?

Annabel Lee, lyric poem by Edgar Allan Poe, published in the New York Tribune on
Oct. 9, 1849, two days after his death. Thought to be written in memory of his young wife and
cousin, Virginia, who died in 1847, the poem expresses one of Poe's recurrent themes—the
death of a young, beautiful, and dearly beloved woman.

2. Discuss the comprehensively the elements of the poem:

A. Form - "Annabel Lee" consists of six stanzas, three with six lines, one with seven, and two
with eight, with the rhyme pattern differing slightly in each one. Though it is not technically
a ballad, Poe referred to it as one. Like a ballad, the poem uses repetition of words and
phrases purposely to create its mournful effect.
B. Sound - Stanza 3 of 'Annabel Lee' contains repeated b and s sounds with blew, beautiful,
bore, sepulchre, and sea. The fourth stanza's opening line contains three words beginning
with h: half, happy, and heaven. Something a bit unusual occurs in the final two lines of
stanza 4.
C. Rhyme - The rhyme scheme followed by the entire poem is ABABCB.
D. Imagery - In “Annabel Lee”, Poe uses imagery and diction to create a very supernatural and
mythical setting while telling a story of how a powerful love and nature created a wonderful,
but also painful, memory. The sea is one of the biggest examples, along with clouds, wind,
the moon, and the stars.
E. Figurative Language - Personification: the poet is giving human qualities to the wind by
saying that the wind is killing Annabel Lee. Alliteration: the words half, happy, and heaven,
all begin with the same first letter – “h.” Hyperbole: the poet is using exaggeration by saying
that Annabel Lee had no other thoughts than to love the poet.
F. Speaker - The speaker in "Annabel Lee" is often taken to by Edgar Allan Poe himself, but
there's no definitive evidence in the poem to confirm this. However, his wife, Virginia, had
died not long before its composition, and she was considerably younger than him. So there
are parallels, at least, if not certainty.
G. Theme - "Annabel Lee" is the last complete poem composed by American author Edgar
Allan Poe. Like many of Poe's poems, it explores the theme of the death of a beautiful
woman. The narrator, who fell in love with Annabel Lee when they were young, has a love
for her so strong that even angels are envious.
H. Symbol - Symbolism is using symbols to represent ideas. The main character of the poem,
Annabel Lee, is a symbol for Edgar Allan Poe's dead wife, Virginia Poe. The sea is a
powerful, unpredictable element of nature. It is from a sea wind that Annabel Lee gets the
chill that kills her.

Accredited: Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities of the Philippines (AACCUP)
Member: Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC)
Agricultural Colleges Association of the Philippines (ACAP)
 3. "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 her sepulcher
there by the sea—In her tomb by the sounding sea." Explain this stanza.

These lines reveal that the speaker would not stop loving Annabel Lee, even though
death took her away from him. He claimed that his soul would go on loving her soul so that
even the angels of death could not succeed in separating them from one another.
4. Interpret and narrate the poem "Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allan Poe. Using gestures, facial
expressions, correct caesura (how the words/phrases are divided), emotion and pronunciation,
record you performance through a video which will be sent in GDrive.
(uploaded in the google drive)

Accredited: Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities of the Philippines (AACCUP)
Member: Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC)
Agricultural Colleges Association of the Philippines (ACAP)