Annabel Lee by preemiememe, based on La Vague (The Wave, 1896) by William Bouguereau. Click for bigger.

It’s unlikely that French painter William Bouguereau knew about American writer Edgar Allan Poe. When Poe died in 1849 Bouguereau was just sixteen years old. So any Bouguereau-style tribute to Poe would have to come from a more contemporary artist. In this case that artist goes by the name of preemiememe. She was inspired by “Annabel Lee”, the last complete poem composed by Edgar Allan Poe. The image above was her entry in a contest on FreakingNews in February 2009, celebrating the 200th birthday of the American writer.

Wikipedia summarizes the poem as follows:

The poem’s narrator describes his love for Annabel Lee, which began many years ago in an unnamed “kingdom by the sea.” Though they were young, their love for one another burned with such an intensity that angels became jealous. For that reason, the narrator believes, the angels caused her death. Even so, their love is strong enough that it extends beyond the grave and the narrator believes their two souls are still entwined. Every night, he dreams of Annabel Lee and sees the brightness of her eyes in the stars. He admits that every night he lies down by her side in her tomb by the sea.

The picture uses the famous Bouguereau painting La Vague (The Wave, 1896) which is shown below.

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The same painting is an all-time favorite among digital artists. Click the image to discover at least 20 other remastered versions.