"Alone" - By Edgar Allan Poe

"Alone"

By: Edgar Allan Poe

    From childhood’s hour I have not been

As others were—I have not seen

As others saw—I could not bring

My passions from a common spring—

From the same source I have not taken

My sorrow—I could not awaken

My heart to joy at the same tone—

And all I lov’d—I lov’d alone—

Then—in my childhood—in the dawn

Of a most stormy life—was drawn

From ev’ry depth of good and ill

The mystery which binds me still—

From the torrent, or the fountain—

From the red cliff of the mountain—

From the sun that ’round me roll’d

In its autumn tint of gold—

From the lightning in the sky

As it pass’d me flying by—

From the thunder, and the storm—

And the cloud that took the form

(When the rest of Heaven was blue)

Of a demon in my view—

Analysis:

       A Descriptive poem written by Edgar Allan Poe published in September 1875 about his own despair, misery and isolation from others. It begins with Poe describing his childhood differences with those around him. "From childhood hour I have not been. As others were - I have not seen. As other saw, I could not bring." These first lines reflect his feelings when it came to interaction with others either his own age or even older figures like parents or teachers.
       This isolation may be what drove Poe to write horror and alternative literature. He shows the isolation by comparing things everyone around him had to his lack thereof. These first lines are crucial to the rest poems as all the way through, Poe refers to his undying despair and isolation. Because of the heavy impact of  his childhood, it is now very difficult for Poe to ever be positive about his surroundings and instead manages to find the cruelty and evil in everything.
       Next, the speaker references how even now, he does not know why he is so different from others ("The mystery which binds me still").
       When he gets near the end of the poem, Poe notes that no matter what the weather may be ("From the torrent, or the fountain- From the sun that round me roll'd"), he can only see the bad and negative in the world.
        The demon in his view is the never ending pain and suffering he must adhere to because of his traumatic childhood, and difference with everyone around him.