Annabel Lee & The Bells Name ______________________

Poetry Literary Terms Application

Directions: Analyze the following verses. Demonstrate how the literary terms add deeper meaning to the
text and situation of the story. Use the WORDS from the text, not just line #.

Annabel Lee by 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 wingèd 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 kinsmen 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, 23
In this kingdom by the sea)
3 That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee. 26
6 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 30
9 Nor the demons down under the sea
Can ever senerate
dissever my soul from the soul 32
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
12
For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams 34
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes 36
15 Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side 38
Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
18 In her sepulchre there by the sea— 40
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Repetition:
Look at line 9. What is repeated? Explanation of how the use of repetition adds meaning to the poem:
The word “love” is repeated became felt his love for her was endless
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Cacophony:
Look at line 26. What is the cacophony? Explanation of how this cacophony adds meaning/reflects what is
happening in the poem:
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Chilling and killing, it reflects the horror he went through watching her slowly die
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Internal Rhyme:
Look at lines 30-32. What is the internal rhyme? Explanation of how this internal rhyme adds meaning to the
poem:
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Neither, dissever, it helps to show that nothing can sever/take away his love for her
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Alliteration:
Look at line 32. What alliteration? Explanation of how this alliteration adds meaning to the poem:
The word soul, the meaning of this is that he feels the same about her from the inside out
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With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.

Analyze Poe’s diction (word choice) of “coveted” in line 12. Why does he use this word instead of “were jealous”
of her and me or “were envious” or “desired” or another word? (Think about poetry terms and how it goes with
the meaning of what will happen in the next stanza.)
Coveted fits well into the rhythm of the poem and feels more ominous
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But our love it was stronger by far than the love

Of those who were older than we—
Of many far wiser than we—

Analyze Poe’s punctuation. Why does he use the long dash at the end of these lines? Think about how it is relevant
to the meaning.
He uses this to pause while reading. It shows with the pause to show the greater meaning
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What effect does this poem create? (such as happiness, hope, elegiac, tense, etc.) What words contribute to this effect?
Effect: Sad but meaningful
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Chilling, killing, tomb, dissever
Diction: ______________________________________________________________________________

The Bells

Hear the sledges with the bells—

Silver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
In the icy air of night!
While the stars that oversprinkle
All the heavens, seem to twinkle
With a crystalline delight;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the tintinabulation that so musically wells
From the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells—
From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.

What is the mood created in Part I? ______________________________________

Diction that creates the mood: _______________________________________________________________
Diction that creates a musical quality to the poem: ____________________________________________

Example of Onomatopoeia: _____________________________________________________________

Explanation of how this onomatopoeia adds meaning to the poem:
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Hear the mellow wedding bells, What a gush of euphony voluminously wells! 12
Golden bells! How it swells!
What a world of happiness their harmony foretells! How it dwells
Through the balmy air of night On the Future! how it tells
How they ring out their delight! Of the rapture that impels 16
From the molten-golden notes, To the swinging and the ringing
And all in tune, Of the bells, bells, bells,
What a liquid ditty floats Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
To the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats Bells, bells, bells—
On the moon! To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells!
Oh, from out the sounding cells, 11

What is the mood created in Part 2? ______________________________________

Diction that creates the mood: __________________________________________________________________________

Look at the end rhyme from lines 11-16.

How does the use of rhyme and the line length add to the meaning of the poem during these lines? (you might want to read it
out loud to hear it)
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Hear the loud alarum bells— Of Despair!

Brazen bells! How they clang, and clash, and roar!
What tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells! What a horror they outpour
In the startled ear of night On the bosom of the palpitating air!
How they scream out their affright! Yet the ear it fully knows,
Too much horrified to speak, By the twanging,
They can only shriek, shriek, And the clanging,
Out of tune, How the danger ebbs and flows;
In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire, Yet the ear distinctly tells,
In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire, In the jangling,
Leaping higher, higher, higher, And the wrangling.
With a desperate desire, How the danger sinks and swells,
And a resolute endeavor By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells—
Now—now to sit or never, Of the bells—
By the side of the pale-faced moon. Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Oh, the bells, bells, bells! Bells, bells, bells—
What a tale their terror tells In the clamor and the clangor of the bells!

What is the mood created in Part 3? ______________________________________

Diction that creates the mood: _______________________________________________________________

Cacophony:
Words/lines from the text: ______________________________________________________________
Explanation of how this cacophony adds meaning/reflects what is happening in the poem:
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With a desperate desire,

And a resolute endeavor

Alliteration: ______________________________________________________________
Explanation of how this alliteration adds meaning/reflects what is happening in the poem:
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With a desperate desire,
And a resolute endeavor
Consonance: ______________________________________________________________
Explanation of how this consonance adds meaning/reflects what is happening in the poem:
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With a desperate desire,

And a resolute endeavor
Assonance: ______________________________________________________________
Explanation of how this assonance adds meaning/reflects what is happening in the poem:
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Hear the tolling of the bells— A pæan from the bells!

Iron bells! And his merry bosom swells
What a world of solemn thought their monody compels! With the pæan of the bells!
In the silence of the night, And he dances, and he yells;
How we shiver with affright Keeping time, time, time,
At the melancholy menace of their tone! In a sort of Runic rhyme,
For every sound that floats To the pæan of the bells—
From the rust within their throats Of the bells:
Is a groan. Keeping time, time, time,
And the people—ah, the people— In a sort of Runic rhyme,
They that dwell up in the steeple, To the throbbing of the bells—
All alone, Of the bells, bells, bells—
And who tolling, tolling, tolling, To the sobbing of the bells;
In that muffled monotone, Keeping time, time, time,
Feel a glory in so rolling As he knells, knells, knells,
On the human heart a stone— In a happy Runic rhyme,
They are neither man nor woman— To the rolling of the bells—
They are neither brute nor human— Of the bells, bells, bells—
They are Ghouls: To the tolling of the bells,
And their king it is who tolls; Of the bells, bells, bells, bells—
And he rolls, rolls, rolls, Bells, bells, bells—
Rolls To the moaning and the groaning of the bells.

What is the mood created in Part 4? ______________________________________

Diction that creates the mood: _______________________________________________________________

Poetry Device: ______________________________________________________________

Example: ____________________________________________________________________
Explanation of how this poetry meaning/reflects what is happening in the poem:
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Poetry Device: ______________________________________________________________

Example: ____________________________________________________________________
Explanation of how this poetry meaning/reflects what is happening in the poem:
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