Many and many a year ago. . .

From the very beginign Poe estabilishes that he is talking about things that happened in the distant past. Repeating the word many emphasizes the amount of time that has passed since Annabel Lee's death. This encourages the readers' to question how well the speaker actually remembers his relationship. Thi s makes it difficult to believe this youthful love affair could have been as pure and beautiful as he describes it, since memories, especially extremely pleasant ones, are often idealized versions of reality.

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