Rhyme Internal Rhyme

1. Rhyme Internal Rhyme Lesson 4

2. Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) Edgar Allen Poe • Poe was an orphan and was reared by foster parents. He had emotional problems; and, as a result, his life was generally unhappy. He experienced the death of a loved one several times throughout his life. Thus, he believed that the death of a beautiful woman was the most poetic topic in the world. His poetry was truly original.

3. Family • Poe was born in Massachusetts, the son of traveling actors David and Elizabeth Arnold Poe. His mother died when he was two and his father was an alcoholic, so Poe went to live with a prosperous Scottish tobacco merchant, John Allan, in Richmond. Allan always refused to adopt Poe which led to bad feeling between the two of them.

4. Education • Poe was educated at Stoke Newington in London from 1815-20. Despite considerable academic success his gambling debts forced him to leave the University of Virginia, where he had gone to study, after one year. By 1827 Poe, with typical restlessness, had moved from Boston to Richmond and then back to Boston again. He gained a good reputation in the army which he joined in 1827, but spent a miserable year at the US Military Academy at West Point in 1830, before being dishonorably discharged.

5. His Writing Poe stayed in Baltimore from 1831-35 and began writing more seriously. In 1836 he married his 13 year old cousin, Virginia. He had been working as a journalist since 1831, earning a bare minimum to survive, and from 1835-37 edited the Southern Literary Messenger. His short stories reveal a fascination with emotional extremes, particularly fear, though his essays show that he was capable of being objective and critical.

6. Virginia Poe Married Life • In 1844 Poe moved to New York, but despite popular acclaim his life was still wretched. Virginia died of tuberculosis in 1847 and Poe, still poor and an alcoholic, died in Baltimore two years later.

7. The poem: “Annabel Lee” was written shortly before Poe’s death. It is probably the last poem he wrote. It is a simple poem, yet it deals with the effect of a woman’s death on the persona just as the death of a loved one affected Poe in real life.

8. Internal Rhyme Repeating sounds usually at the ends of poetic lines creates rhyme. Rhyme usually occurs at the end of lines that are close together in a poem. When a word in the middle of a line rhymes with a word at the end of a line, it is called internal rhyme. This type of rhyme occurs in this poem several times in the last stanza.

9. For example: • “For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams...” • “And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes....” • “And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side....”

10. The Poem’s effect • The effect of a poem comes in large part from the rhyme. Poe chose words carefully so that he created the atmosphere he was searching for in his poems. • In “Annabel Lee” his grief is mild, quiet, gentle, and calm. It thus has a fairy tale quality about it.

11. Annabel Lee 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.

12. 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 winged seraphs of Heaven Coveted her and me.

13. 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 high-born kinsmen cameAnd bore her away from me, To shut her up in a sepulchreIn this kingdom by the sea.

14. 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) That the wind came out of the cloud by night, Chilling and killing my ANNABEL LEE,

15. 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, Nor the demons down under the sea, Can ever dissever my soul from the soul Of the beautiful ANNABEL LEE:

16. 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 sepulchre there by the sea, In her tomb by the sounding sea.

17. 1) The setting of the poem is A) the mountains B) a busy city C) a wooded area near a cemetery D) the seashore E) a desert in an unknown place Correct

18. TRY AGAIN!!

19. YES!!

20. 2) Annabel Lee lived only for A) her art career B) the love she had for the persona C) her family D) her pet fish E) her beautiful home

21. TRY AGAIN!!

22. YES!!

23. 3) In the poem, the two lovers are A) middle-aged B) mature C) quite young D) near death E) grade school children

24. TRY AGAIN!!

25. YES!!

26. 4) The angels A) respected the love these two shared B) were jealous of their love C) were afraid something would happen to destroy this love D) guarded the love these two shared E) wanted them to bring this love to Heaven

27. TRY AGAIN!!

28. YES!!

29. 5) The cause of Annabel Lee’s death was A) a wind that chilled her B) old age C) suicide D) her lover killed her E) an accident

30. TRY AGAIN!!

31. YES!!

32. 6) Annabel Lee’s body A) rests in a pine box B) was placed in a burial vault by the sea C) was donated to science D) was buried at sea E) was cremated

33. TRY AGAIN!!

34. YES!!

35. 7) The persona seems to have the last laugh at the end of the poem because A) their love was so strong it continues to exist even though they are separated physically B) he sees Annabel Lee when he looks at the stars C) he is reminded of her when the moon rises D) they were so close they might as well be together in her tomb E) all of these

36. TRY AGAIN!!

37. YES!!

38. 8) What did Poe feel was the most poetic topic in the world? the death of a beautiful woman

39. 9) Indicate one place where the poet effectively uses repetition. • “kingdom by the sea”

40. 10) It is difficult to separate the poet from the male personality within the poem, yet this is not Poe but the __________ he created PERSONA

41. 11) Read through the writing assignment. • Reread the poem with your goal being to retell the story. • Do this in a fairy tale fashion. Begin the story with the usual “Once upon a time...” • Be careful how you refer to the characters. • Even though the situation is tragic, try to end it with a “they-lived-happily-ever-after” manner.

42. (Have fun with this assignment.)