“Amenable Lee” was the last poem that Poe composed, and was first published in November, 1849, a month or so after his death. Poe once said, “The death of a beautiful woman is the most poetic topic in the world”, that’s “Amenable Lee. ” The poem is about a beautiful, but painful memory. The speaker of the poem is remembering his long-lost love, Amenable Lee. The narrator, who fell in love with Amenable Lee when they were young, has a love for her so strong that even angels are envious.
He retains his love for her even after her death. The poem has since become one of Pope’s most popular works. Poe begins the poem by painting a romantic and fairy tale story, telling us that the story we are about to hear happened “many a year ago”. Akin to a fairy story, the author takes us to a kingdom by the sea that existed In the remote past, when both he and his beloved Amenable Lee were. 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 Amenable Lee; In stanza two, Poe tells us about the mature love he and Amenable Lee share, even though they are Just children.
By using climax, which is a Poe specialty, the story sakes a dark turn when the angels become Jealous of their love and result In killing Amenable Lee. Poe gives us a feeling their love was not welcomed by all. He blames her death on the angles because they envied her – his beloved. But Poe Is so sure of their love, saying It Is stronger than those who were older then we” and “far wiser than we. ” The author paints a picture of Amenable Lee who is gentle and persistent in her love, and she has complex emotion that may darken or complicate her love.
The third stanza adds more emotion by stressing the tragic and irreversible nature of her death. Pope’s use of repetition, speaks intimately with the voiceless dead as well as with the reader. In stanza four, the speaker circles back a little bit, saying and he and Amenable Lee were happier on earth than the angels were in heaven, and that made them Jealous. The narrator tries to point out that this isn’t Just his ridiculous theory, but It’s a fact that “all men” who live In the kingdom know It.
Repetition, a characteristic of the traditional ballad, plays a key role In conveying the emotions of the narrator to the reader, which Is using her In stanza four, to show us how traumatic Enablers death was to him. Moving on to stanza five, even if death might seem to be the end of love, completely separate the narrator from his Amenable Lee. Poe goes on to say that neither the angels in heaven or the demons who live under the water can stop their love, nothing in heaven or hell can “dissever” his soul and Enablers soul.
The last stanza, like the poem itself, makes a great use of repetition to convey a feeling of peaceful and pleasant reminiscence. Poe proves here that their love between the speaker and Amenable Lee isn’t dead, at least not in mind of the speaker. This last stanza also shifts from the past tense into the present tense. Poe was telling us a story about a story that happened long ago, but also letting us know what is happening now. The speaker seems increasingly obsessed as the poem goes on by telling us “my darling, my life, and my bride. They were not married in life, but now they can be united in death. Poe leaves us with one last haunting phrase, “the sounding sea”, suddenly terrifying and cold, the feeling of no happy ending. The title, Amenable Lee, introduces us the sound of her name, which is important for Poe. He repeats her name seven times, and more than half the lines in this poem end with the “e” sound. In a way, the sound of her name becomes her, takes her place. Amenable Lee is shouted out in the title, and then echoes through the rest of the poem.
The title, always the first thing the readers read, is a great place for Poe to tip us off to this theme. The poem comprised of six stanzas, three of which have six lines and three of which have eight lines – with the rhyme pattern differing slightly in each one. The tone of the poem is one of grief as the speaker laments over the death of his beloved. The poem progresses through increased stanza length and more complicated rhyme to create an increased dramatic feeling that helps facilitate the Tory of Amenable Lee’s death and the speaker’s love for her.
