“Annabel Lee” uses a distinctive rhyme scheme, in which only a select trio of words ever appear as end rhymes. With just two minor exceptions, the only end-rhyme words in the whole poem are “me,” “sea,” and “LEE.” Each of these rhyme words appears once in each of the first five stanzas. This repeating cycle of rhymes powerfully evokes the intensity of the speaker’s grief. The repetition also reflects the speaker’s manic state of mind. He repeats these three words again and again, obsessing over the connection between himself, his beloved, and the seaside landscape where their love blossomed and died. Indeed, he cycles through the words “me,” “LEE,” and “sea,” almost as if making an incantation meant to secure the memory of their love against the ravages of time. The speaker’s rhyme scheme changes in the sixth stanza, where the word “we” replaces “me,” further cementing his connection with Annabel Lee. By the final stanza, however, the speaker ceases to include either “me” or “we” and instead features “sea” and “LEE” two times each. The speaker’s refusal to use “me” quietly suggests his own death, which is particularly significant given that crawls inside his beloved’s tomb, perhaps to die.