Annabel Lee: The Eternal Woman
Last week we celebrated International Women’s Day. I would have liked to share this message earlier, but a few days in the majestic city of Istanbul occupied my time.
This wasn’t my first time on the bridge between Europe and Asia, but, as those who have visited the Turkish capital know, ancient Constantinople can surround you in its unique aura of tradition and modernity.
Waking up to the calls of the mosques, the smell of Turkish coffee in the streets, and the sound of the tram crossing the Bosphorus with views of the Galata Tower and the imposing Hagia Sophia… However, I will write about this adventure on another occasion.
Read it in Spanish, includes a reading comprension activity
So, returning to the theme of this story, Women’s Day holds varying levels of importance in different parts of the world; in some countries, it is not celebrated, while in others, it is a significant festivity.
For example, in Mexico it’s becoming more important due to the movement against violence towards women; in Russia, it is a day that cannot be ignored, where you often see the metro and streets filled with women carrying bouquets of flowers and gifts, in addition to it being a non-working holiday.
On this day, while taking a sip from my black tea in those traditional Turkish glasses in the center of Istanbul and reading Edgar A. Poe’s The Black Cat for the millionth time, I’ve thought about what women mean to me, to Poe, and indeed, to many of us throughout time.
The passage of time is the key element in my thoughts. How a woman can transcend her moment in life in this world and continue in the minds of the people touched by her essence.
In Poe’s case, his loves and his mother transcend death and time through his writting. Anyone who has not read his work or does not know his life may comment that his stories are macabre and terrifying, but Poe hides his love for these female figures in his lines, representing in his characters how he himself cannot escape the impact created by the women he loved; women fate prematurely separated from his life.
In Istanbul, a fresh baklava, cats observing my plate of delights, the sound of the crowd walking on Divan Yolu street or coming out of the Grand Bazaar, and thus, in this atmosphere, Annabel Lee came to my mind. The woman whom Poe loved immensely.
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 wingèd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me. (Poe, 1849)
Women’s Day became trivial and at the same time gained more significance. The woman who is no longer here, the woman lying in her tomb by the sea cannot be forgotten.
Women’s Day doesn’t last a day because they last forever.
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 (Poe, 1849)
Poe’s soul cannot leave the soul of the beautiful Annabel Lee, and in a café in Istanbul, in a city that evokes the past, I do not forget Annabel Lee.
She is everywhere, the essence of the women in our lives will not leave our soul, and, like Poe, we must not forget them wherever they may be.
Read it in Spanish, includes a reading comprension activity.
