2. “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe (Narrative
Poem).
“Time does not bring relief” by Edna St Vincent
Millay (Lyrical Poem).
Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare (Lyrical
Poem).
3. It was many and many a year ago, That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
In a kingdom by the sea, Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee; But our love it was stronger by far than the love
And this maiden she lived with no other thought Of those who were older than we-
Than to love and be loved by me. Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
I was a child and she was a child, Nor the demons down under the sea,
In this kingdom by the sea; Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
But we loved with a love that was more than love- Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven For the moon never beams without bringing me
Coveted her and me. dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And this was the reason that, long ago, And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
In this kingdom by the sea, Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
My beautiful Annabel Lee; Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
So that her highborn kinsman came In the sepulchre there by the sea,
And bore her away from me, In her tomb by the sounding sea.
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)
4. I’ve chosen “Annabel Lee” because I really enjoy reading Poe’s
work. Apart from this poem I’ve read some of his other short
stories and tales, but all of them were about mystery or death.
Therefore I never thought he could write about endless love and I
was really surprise when I finished reading this poem.
Theme and devices:
“But we loved with a love that was more than love”
This poem portrays the way the narrator and Annabel Lee loved
each other. Their love was too strong that nothing could affect it and
even when Annabel Lee died, the narrator continues remembering
her every day.
Furthermore, Poe uses many literary devices like alliteration,
repetition and assonance to achieve sound effects in his poem.
5. These images represent almost the
last part of the poem: “For the
moon never beams without bringing
me dreams of the beautiful Annabel
Lee”. This is one of the most
important parts of the poem
because it is the proof that their
love still remains and he continues
seeing her in his imagination every
day.
6. Time does not bring relief; you all have lied
Who told me time would ease me of my pain!
I miss him in the weeping of the rain;
I want him at the shrinking of the tide;
The old snows melt from every mountain-side,
And last year's leaves are smoke in every lane;
But last year's bitter loving must remain
Heaped on my heart, and my old thoughts abide.
There are a hundred places where I fear
To go - so with his memory they brim.
And entering with relief some quiet place
Where never fell his foot or shone his face
I say, 'There is no memory of him here!'
And so stand stricken, so remembering him.
7. I’ve chosen this poem because it is written by an author that we dealt
with in class, and I think that in some way it is related to the previous
one.
In “Annabel Lee” we are told that the author loved her so much that
after her death he would remember her forever, and something
similar happens here. The theme of this poem is grief and it shows
how difficult is to forget somebody we loved, following this idea that
time does not always heal the pain.
In the first eight lines, the author talks about missing her loved one;
and references to time can be perceived through mention of place:
“The old snows melt from every mountain-side” - a reference to
winter moving to spring - and “last year's leaves are smoke in every
lane” - a reference to clean-up, but her thoughts and emotions still
remain.
The turn occurs in the ninth line, where she shifts and talks
specifically about the ability of a place to evoke his memory. She
fears going to familiar places because they will trigger memory, but
she also fears going to new places, because they remind her he was
never there with her.
8. I’ve chosen these images
because I think they reflect
the feelings that are
described in the poem.
9. My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask’d, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
10. This is the poem I like most of those that were read in class, it is
unusual and different from the typical poem and that is why I’ve
chosen it.
This sonnet is clearly a parody of the conventional love sonnet
made popular by Petrarch. Shakespeare used parallel structures,
metaphors and exaggerated comparisons to achieve a humorous
tone and to portray his beloved as an ordinary human person,
since she is not compared with a goddess or with nature (the
typical sources of inspiration for the average sonneteer).
Furthermore, at the beginning of the poem the speaker seems to
be viewing his mistress disdainfully, as if he is not attracted to
her. However, the final couplet tells the truth about the woman
this poet loves: He sees her in all her mortal imperfection and still
he loves her and considers her as rare and lovely as if she really
did have all those goddess-like attributes. It is indeed this blunt
but charming sincerity that has made sonnet 130 one of the most
famous in the sequence.
11. I’ve chosen these photos of
different women to show
that each of them are
imperfect but still beautiful
in their own way. Perhaps
true love is accepting that a
person has faults and loving
them anyway.
