In "Annabel Lee", its most common refrains are "Annabel Lee" and "In this kingdom by the sea". He claims that the refrain should be brief because if it were long it would not have the same effect on the reader. Choosing the word(s) to remember has meaning, it's not just a word or phrase that is repeated from time to time. Poe expresses: “The sound of the refrain being thus determined, it became necessary to choose a word embodying that sound, and at the same time in as complete accord as possible with that melancholy which I had predetermined as the tone of the poem. » (“The Philosophy of Composition” 741). This means that the word should always reflect the tone you set throughout. “Annabel Lee” uses “In a Kingdom by the Sea.” This phrase sounds like “once upon a time,” in my opinion. This serves what he may be trying to convey. This love that he and Annabel Lee share is so rare and beautiful that it is one like the one we hear about in fairy tales. This refrain may have been deliberately chosen for this reason. When he repeats "Annabel Lee" or "my beautiful Annabel Lee", he is emphasizing her name and the fact that she was his and still is his.