But singer Patti Smith said this was exactly what happened after she heard Baldwin's recital of Edgar Allan Poe's 'Annabel Lee.'
It's such a beautiful poem," Smith told AP at the event at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, where nine artists and celebrities were featured readers for Poetry & the Creative Mind, an event sponsored by the Academy of American Poets and in honor of April, National Poetry Month.
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 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.
This is such a great poem. I've also found it to be true that the world and the angels themselves, envy people in love and will do everything in their power to destroy the materialization of love. And I've also found that true love can't be destroyed by the world or the angels if there is a witness to love even when the object of the love is gone. Maybe Alex is more spiritual than we thought.
ReplyDeleteHi David, Thanks for stopping by my page with your comment. Unfortuately, blogger screwed up and lost your comment and the one I left here for you. So I'll see if I can re-post it.
ReplyDeleteI thought this is a wonderful poem. I have found the world and angels will try to destroy any kind of love relationship you may be able to materialize. But also, like the poem points out, the world and the angels can't destroy love if there is a witness who keeps on loving even when the object of the love is gone.
I figure Alex must be more aware than we give him credit for.
your friend, sue