Ann Lee

It was quite a few years since gone,
  In a realm by the sea
That a girl lived there whom you may know
  By the name of Ann Lee;
And this girl she lived with but no thought
  Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
  In the realm by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love --
  I and my Ann Lee --
With a love that the winged sprites from high
  Did want her and me.

And this was why that, long since,
  In this realm by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, and chilled
  My Ann Lee who looked nice;
So that her snob kin came
  And bore her from me,
To shut her up in a tomb
  In this realm by the sea.

The sprites, not half so glad on high,
  Did want what she and I had --
Yes! -- that was why (and all men know,
  In this realm by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
  That chilled and killed my Ann Lee.

But our love it was more strong by far than the love
  Of those more old than we --
  Of quite a few more wise than we --
And not the spites on high,
  Nor the imps the sea is on top of,
Can cut my soul from the soul
  Of Ann Lee who looked nice:
For the moon does not beam, but it brings me dreams
  Of the Ann Lee who looked nice;
And the stars don't rise, but I feel the bright eyes
  Of the Ann Lee who looked nice:
And so, all the night tide, I lie down by the side
  Of my dear -- my dear -- my life and my bride,
  In her tomb there by the sea --
  In her tomb by the sea that sounds.

                                -- Ed Poe

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