Poe, Edgar Allan : For Annie

Literature Annotations

	On-Line Text
Genre	Poem
Keywords	Death and Dying, Grief, Love, Suffering
Summary	A dying man gives thanks that his "lingering illness," life, is finally over. He is now beyond pain and suffering. But no one, he says, should think pityingly of him. After all, everyone will lie in the same bed he does. Moreover, his death is not final. As his lover, Annie, looks on him and cries because she thinks he is dead, he declares that his heart and his thoughts are more alive than ever, for they are filled with the sight of Annie's love. Though dead, he lives on because of her love.
Commentary	The poem reverses ordinary ways of thinking about death and life. Life is an illness and death is a cure rather then visa versa. Death is also not just a matter of body. The man's mind and heart are alive even though his body is quite dead. Poe expands on this theme in The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar (see this database).
Source	Selected Writings of Edgar Allan Poe
Publisher	Houghton Mifflin
Edition	1956
Editors	Edward H. Davidson
Place Published	Boston
Miscellaneous	First published: 1849
Annotated by	Moore, Pamela
Date of Entry	08/08/94
Last Revised	01/09/07