Poe uses several literary devices in the poem, including repetition, internal rhyme, word/phrase placement and allusion. This serves to create a tempo that brings the reader to the final climax in a crescendo of shifting tone and emotion. Poe creates the setting in the first two lines when he tells us that:

“It was many and many a year ago.”

He could have said it was a long time ago or it was two decades ago. By repeating the word “many” twice, he creates the tempo that carries the reader forward to place the emphasis on the final word, “ago.” The point of this is to draw out the rhyme scheme; with the word “ago” rhyming with the final word in the third line, “know.”

Poe also repeatedly uses the second line of the first stanza:

"In a kingdom by the sea"

This emphasizes the setting of the story where his love for Annabel Lee began. In all, he repeats the phrase “kingdom by the sea” five times. However, by shifting the placement of the phrase from the second line of stanza one to the eighth and fourth lines, respectively, in stanzas three and four the “kingdom by the sea” takes on a different tone.

The description of the "kingdom" at first is of a light and airy seaside setting. By shifting its placement and leveraging the rhythm of surrounding words, Poe transitions the "kingdom" to a darker setting that encompasses death and a tomb.

Specifically, the word “kingdom” initially is surrounded by words that call to mind bright and happy images and themes: "maiden," "love," "child," and "Heaven."

Then the rhythm changes. The "kingdom" phrase is surrounded by words suggesting darker themes and tones: "wind," "cloud," "chilling," "sepulchre" and "killing." The allusion to the “kingdom by the sea” eventually disappears entirely from the final two stanzas as the magical “kingdom” where he and his love were together exists no longer.