EDGAR ALLAN POE's dream poem of love and loss is one of the most beautiful in the English language, as close to music as words can ever come. Said to be written in memory of his beloved wife Virginia, "Annabel Lee" was published for the first time only after Poe's own death in 1847. But was Annabel Lee ever more than a dream, the imaginings of a lonely child for the perfect friend?

In this interpretation, artist Gilles Tibo sets the scene in the 1930s on the Gaspé Peninsula of his native Quebec. Here, a poor fisherman shows Annabel Lee the beauty of the moving tides on the beach, the gliding seagulls and the delicate shapes of the seashells until, one day, she is taken away from him forever.

While the boy is distraught over his loss, he is comforted by the knowledge that Annabel Lee will return to him each night in his dreams.

GILLES TIBO's art has been honored with the Governor General's Literary Award in Canada, the Owl Prize in Japan, and has been chosen for the prestigious Illustrators' Exhibit in Bologna, Italy.
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