Love Poetry

One Response to “Poetry thematically related to Jane Eyre?”

1. s29 Says:
   November 21st, 2009 at 5:20 pm

   I can only think of these but have a look at the site below.

   From The Shadows

   A romantic poem as costume drama, in which social class forms a unbridgeable divide between the secret admirer and the woman he so deeply desires.

   From The Shadows

   I stood in the shadows
   As I had often done before
   Out of sight, to see yet be unseen
   To look upon that vision of loveliness
   She talks with friends in the gardens
   Unaware of me
   Her skirt was long and green
   From high waste to ankle low
   Her crisp blouse of white
   Enhanced to elegance of her neck
   The long sleeves encasing her slender arms
   Covered her fine boned wrists
   Her hair was red
   Red like burnished copper
   Thick and full bodied tied back at her nape
   Her eyes were the hue of polished emeralds
   In a setting of perfect pale skin
   No jeweller could ever hope to equal
   Her mouth pale lipped, strong yet sensitive
   When transformed into a smile
   Illuminated her countenance
   As if a light had been switched on
   Perusal of every inch of her delicate frame
   Returned echoes of a cultured creature
   Dressed in the finest Edwardian elegance
   More than a class above me
   I step from the shadows
   Returning unseen to my duties
   -Paul Curtis

   Annabel Lee
   The speaker of this poem presents himself as an underdog, struggling throughout his entire love affair against those who attempt to use their superior social positions against him. At first, the speaker implies that the world looked down on his relationship with Annabel Lee because they were both children, making a point of emphasizing she and I to show their common bond against the opposition, presumably from adults. If, as most critics agree, this poem is based upon Poe’s relationship with his cousin Virginia Clemm, then he has altered the facts here to fit this theory of opposition: even if Virginia was only thirteen when they married, Poe himself was twenty-seven. By presenting himself as a child, he puts himself and Annabel Lee on one side and the adult world on the other. Later in the poem, there is opposition from the angels, who are jealous because the young couple has more happiness than they themselves have in heaven. The angels, obviously from a higher and more privileged class than a couple of children on Earth, have killed Annabel Lee, the narrator says. After Annabel Lee’s death, her body was taken away by “her high-born kinsmen.” Although it is not directly stated, the implication here is that the speaker is prohibited from visiting his deceased love or from participating in her funeral because of class distinctions. The love affair in this poem is opposed by forces more powerful — adults, angels, and the upper social class. The endurance of the youngsters’ love against all of these is a testament to its strength.

   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.

   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.

   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 highborn kinsman 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 the sepulchre there by the sea,
   In her tomb by the sounding sea.

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