Texting Poe

Got a text from Ruby this morning:

I forgot about the poem!  I need two copies of a poem and an object to go with it.

Oh goodie!  It was my big chance to choose Ruby's poem for English.  She hadn't liked any of my suggestions, but now she didn't have a choice.  (Insert evil laugh.)  Except that I didn't have a lot of time and getting the poem and object to the school involved numerous quick diaper changes and carseat buckles, hopefully in that order.  I googled "famous poems," found a favorite of mine that started with "A" in the alphabetical list, printed it off and grabbed a seashell to go with it.

After dropping it off in the school office, I texted Ruby:

Poem in office.  Annabel Lee by Edgar Allen Poe.  Guy is in love, girl dies of a chill.  Seplechre means tomb.  Seashell to represent the kingdom by the sea.  Poor Annabel Lee! :(

And that's one of Poe's most famous poems in a nutshell...or a seashell, as the case may be.  Here's the complete text, just because I love it...

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.

Heartbreaking.  I hope you liked it, Ruby. :)