Time and time again in “Annabel Lee” the narrator reminds the reader that true love—especially the true love he and Annabel Lee have—cannot be stopped by any earthly or heavenly force. It can be convincingly argued that the key passage in the poem occurs from Lines 30-33, when the narrator states that “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.” The notion that love is a force transcendent of any barrier placed in its path not only makes this one of Poe’s more forthrightly romantic poems but prioritizes the idea that death is not the end; rather, death is merely an additional barrier a lover must overcome in order to sustain the relationship with the object of their affection.

Certainly, an argument can be made that such a belief holds troubling connotations. There is, for instance, the implication of a recurring necrophiliac gesture in the poem’s final lines, describing the narrator’s nightly visits to Annabel Lee’s tomb that culminate with his climbing inside to sleep beside her until the following morning.

Yet one should not take such a reading too far. Rather, “Annabel Lee” remains, at its core, a work deeply invested in the romantic ideal of love and how that love can inspire in an individual an ability—and a willingness—to overcome any number of obstacles placed in their way.

When analyzing “Annabel Lee,” a consistent point of mystery is the meaning of the reference to her “highborn kinsmen” (Line 17). Is this meant to refer to Annabel Lee’s actual relatives, perhaps whom—given that the poem takes place in a kingdom—are of royal or aristocratic blood? Or does the reference actually relate to the envious, vindictive angels who the narrator blames for Annabel Lee’s death?

Either way, what cannot be debated is that throughout the entirety of the poem, the narrator personally feels outnumbered—a sentiment regularly reinforced by the way in which he emphasizes his solitude (the repeated mentions of “I”) against the plural nature of his enemies (“angels,” “demons,” “kinsmen”).

Ultimately, “Annabel Lee” is a poem touting the willingness of a strong, solitary figure to resist the pressures and injustices perpetuated by a larger group. In the case of the poem, the exact nature of this group is never made explicitly clear, but this does not dampen the fact that “Annabel Lee” is, on one level, a celebration of an individual who refuses to allow his desires to be denied despite any form of opposition that may come his way.