The poem "Annabel Lee" was written by Edgar Allan Poe. Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1809. His father left him and his mother soon after his birth, then his mother died of an illness when he was two years old. Poe was adopted by a couple who gave him all he needed. The adoptive parents treated him well but ignored what he really wanted. He had a dream of becoming a writer, but his adoptive father wanted him to be a businessman. The relationship between Poe and his adoptive father worsened and finally crumbled. Poe left the family and became a vagrant. He became exhausted from making a living. The people at that time did not find the value of Poe's work. Like many writers, he became famous after his death.
             The character of "Annabel Lee" was based on Poe's beloved wife, and cousin, Virginia Clemm, who died from tuberculosis. The poem expressed his love and sorrow although the poem was not published until after Poe's death. "Annabel Lee", which was finished in May 1849, would be Poe's last poem and one of his magnum opus. He made a few copies of it and circulated them among his friends to ensure that the poem would not go unnoticed. Poe read the poem in lectures in Richmond and sold it, along with "The Bells," to Sartain's Union Magazine of Literature and Art for publication. However, it was first printed in the New York Daily Tribune on October 9, 1849, only two days after Poe's death; it was rushed into print by Rufus Griswold, who had received a copy for later inclusion in the tenth edition of The Poets and Poetry of America.
             The flowery language of the poem is moving. Poe was an aesthete, therefore, this poem had the tendency of aestheticism. He claimed that poets should write pure poems. In his opinion, art is meant to create beauty. The base and nature of art was beauty while the origin of art was the human's thirst for art. In "Annabel Lee," we can see the beauty of pure love.
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