Annabel Lee

It feels like yesterday; 
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a boy there lived whom you know
Who spent his life writing of me; 
And I spent my life thinking of he.

I did not feel like we were children  
In this kingdom by the sea
Because the love that we loved seemed like so much more than love--
It seemed like heaven to me.
But this happiness was not meant to be. 

One dark day a chill came over me.
My fingers were ice 
And ,my cheeks like fire. 
In this kingdom by the sea, 
My beloved stayed right by me. 

When I awoke ,the chill was gone
And so was he. 
I found myself in a sepulcher 
In this kingdom by the sea.

Our love it reached far beyond the  love
Of those who were older than we---
Of many far wiser than we ---
And neither the stones of my tomb 
Nor the waves of the sea
Can keep his heart from me. 

For not a moment goes by,
Without me wondering why 
Cruel death had to take him from me. 
And my eyes are closed 
But inside I know 
That our love has outlived me. 
Every night-tide I feel him by my side
My darling -- my darling -- my very life -- 
He lies next to me by my sepulcher.
Beside my tomb by the sounding sea. 
  
-D. Lucianus inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's poem of the same name 

Author’s Note

I did not expect my first piece on this blog to be a poem, but I was so fixated on completing my illustration of the ghost of Annabel Lee this week that I could not think of anything else. Annabel Lee was the first poem I remember reading and loving. I also really love playing with different perspectives especially of stories that we already know, so both this illustration and the poem were a lot of fun for me.

Do you remember the first poet or poem that really spoke to you? What are some other stories you think would be extremely interesting if told from another character’s perspective?