Utan någon anledning alls dyker i dessa spalter den mytmystiskt vackra Annabel Lee upp/ner. Detta fast hon egentligen begravdes för över 173 år sen, in a tomb by the sounding sea… Men jag har alltid varit barnsligt förtjust i han som älskade och odödliggjorde henne: skriftställaren Edgar Allen Poe nämligen. De sex stroferna om Annabel Lee var Poes sista bevarade hela dikt; den utgavs postumt, efter att han avlidit 1849. Dödsorsaken är omtvistad; det kan ha varit en hjärntumör, diabetes, syfilis, apoplexi, delirium tremens, hjärtsjukdom, epilepsi, meningit, blyförgiftning, kvicksilverförgiftning eller kolera. Vi får aldrig säkert veta…
Något lyckligt liv kan ha inte anklagas för att ha haft, denne skräcknovellens fader och mästare. Tragiskt döda kvinnor är ett återkommande tema i hans dikter. Annabel Lee kan t.ex. ha inspirerats av Poes fru Virginia, som dog två år före honom.
Poes lyrik kan beskrivas som smärre orgier i välljud; rytm och rim i överflöd. Annabel Lee är inget undantag. Den skall absolut läsas högt! Eller sjungas, som här i en banjobordunrytmiskt härlig version (om än inte så texttrogen) med Sarah Jarosz.
Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan 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.
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 wingéd seraphs in Heaven
Coveted her and me.
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 came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre,
In this kingdom by the sea.
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.
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: —
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.
Sarah Jarosz lyrics:
Many a year ago
In a kingdom by the sea
There lived a maiden you may know
By the name of Annabelle Lee
No other thought did trouble her mind
But to love and be loved by me
We were children both
In this kingdom by the sea
But we loved with a love that was more than love
I and my Annabelle Lee
With a love that the winged angels high
Coveted her and me
This was the reason long ago
In this kingdom by the sea
A wind blew from a stormy cloud
That took my Annabelle Lee
Then her wicked brothers came
To steal her away from me
They shut her up in a tomb below
This kingdom by the sea
But no maiden’s grave could sever my soul
From the love she bore for me
For the moon don’t beam without a dream
Of my darling Annabelle Lee
For many years I’ve wandered
Through this kingdom by the sea
I’ve laid myself beside the bones
Of my beautiful Annabelle Lee
I’ll make my bed near the rising tide
In her tomb by the sounding sea
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