On October 9, 1849, just two days after Edgar Allan Poe died, the final poem he wrote before his death was released. “Annabel Lee” told the story of a young love cut short. In their youth (I was a child and she was a child), they shared a mutual commitment, romanticized in Poe’s words, his maiden in the kingdom by the sea, who likely met her fate by the hand of a celestial being.
Like many of Poe’s poems depicting women who died young—”Lenore,” “To My Mother,” “Eulalie,” “To Helen,” and others—”Annabel Lee” was likely a reflection on the death of his wife, Virginia Eliza Clemm, in 1842 from tuberculosis when she was 24.
The poem was a favorite of a teenage Stevie Nicks, who was assigned to read poetry in school and instantly connected to Poe’s words and heroine. “I remember sitting on my bed, in my mom and dad’s house,” said Nicks, “writing that song and being so overwhelmed with the romanticism of it.”
Videos by American Songwriter
[RELATED: 5 Songs You Didn’t Know Credit Edgar Allan Poe]
‘In a Kingdom by the Sea’
Nick’s lyrics are slightly altered from Poe’s original poem, yet her adaptation mirrors his storyline of a brave young woman who ultimately leaves him by the end.
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.
Nicks
It was many and many a year ago
In a kingdom by the sea
That a maiden lived
Whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee
This maiden, she lived
With no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me
Poe
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
Nicks
She was a child and I was a child
In this kingdom by the sea
We loved with a love
That was more than a love
I and my Annabel Lee
With a love that the winged
Angels of heaven
They coveted her and me
‘In Your Dreams’
“Did you know that I wrote a song with Edgar Allan Poe in the 1800s?” Nicks often sas to fans before performing “Annabel Lee” live. Though Nicks originally wrote the song when she was 17, she didn’t release it until decades later on her 2011 album In Your Dreams.
“It’s just lived in my head since I was 17,” said Nicks of the song. “I didn’t record it until 10 years ago. We found the demo and I’m not sure why I didn’t put it in ‘Trouble in Shangri-La’ (2001), but I guess things got misplaced.”
Produced by Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard, the midtempo “Annabel Lee” delivers a hauntingly fitting revival of the Poe classic. “Dave and Glen loved it, so we recorded it,” added Nicks. “It’s all my song except they wrote this 30-second English minuet thing that goes in the middle that is very ‘Annabel Lee’-esque. That was a good song without Dave, but with Dave and my musical director and lead guitarist Waddy Wachtel—between all of them—they wrote this amazingly beautiful little piece of music.”
Photo: Fin Costello/Redferns
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.