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 loved, I loved alone.
Then- in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life- was drawn
From every 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 rolled
In its autumn tint of gold,
From the lightning in the sky
As it passed 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, meaning and summary of Edgar Allan Poe's poem Alone

42 Comments

  1. Jessika says:

    dude that poem touched my heart! *tear* lol jk it was a kool poem and i liked and whoever didnt……you are poor suckers!! xD l8ers

  2. Federica says:

    I can mirror myself in this poem,I have not been
    As others were; I have not seen
    As others saw.

  3. ###ELi### says:

    this wud have to be my fave poem, its so deep i almost cried!its so sad his wife died so young, i hope i live past 24!

  4. UrMom says:

    Dude its sad he died but he had to lmao!!!

  5. Jonathan Lee says:

    Can feel the pain and can relate to it. I often feel this way as I’ve been looked down on practically my whole life. Beautifully written… it makes me want to go up to Poe, slap him on the back, and tell him to cheer up… that is if he were alive.

  6. J duece says:

    I like this poem alot. It has depth to it. It leaves me with chills when i read it. And I dont mean chills from the creepiness of Poe, but just that the poem is that sweet. Peace

  7. Erik Smth says:

    Although Poe does use a variety of literary techniques in his writing, it seems too short, superficial, almost written just to appeal to the masses, not straight from the heart. Gramatically, its strong, but I find no specialties about it. Just another mass garble of words that was thrown together to become popular.

  8. . . . says:

    god this poem is so beautiful.i can really connect with both the poem in my own feelings and with him and his feelings at the time.

  9. Chris says:

    this is insane like viens that are breakin in the brian i feel this dudes pian

  10. Jenny Hernandez says:

    When i read this poem I felt exactly what he meant by each word. This is one of my favorite poems. At one point or another in our lives we all feel like this. Its an universal emotion.

  11. Joe Smackum says:

    This poem is a shot to my head and defines who i am.

  12. kellen anderson says:

    I love this poem. Very deep and strong. I agree with everyone who has posted.

  13. Jenna says:

    This poem is so strong, I feel his lonelyness and his I hear his thoughts it is amazing, I love this poem and shalle ever more take it with me.

  14. casey says:

    this poem is so beautiful in a sad way… it truly hit me and i understood what it ment. i am only 15 but i love and appricate good poetry and Poe is one of my favorites…check out Jim Morrison!

  15. sebastian aulenbach says:

    this poem discribes my life

  16. Teena says:

    This is a very well written poem, because it encapsulates depth and imagination. Poe is the greatest

  17. scarlet says:

    i really like this poem.E.P really knows how to describe everything he feels!!!!

  18. Olga says:

    I think that this is a great poem, and I really like it. I need to pick a poem for my English 12, and memorize it, so i decided to pick this one becasue i really like it. Thanks to Edgar Allan Poe.

  19. Darlene says:

    Poe is saying ‘I am different from other people, I am special, I am uniquely contrary in my passions. I don’t feel sorry about the things other people feel sorry about. I don’t enjoy the things other people enjoy. No one else loves the things I love.’ He says he has been like that from childhood. I take the title ‘Alone’ as referring to that self-image of uniqueness. Certainly the word has overtones of solitude and loneliness, but the poem isn’t about those meanings. There’s no hint in the poem that Poe regrets being different, or is fearful, or wants to avoid the company of others. After the first eight lines the poem becomes more unclear and goes off track for a bit. Unlike some poets, Poe sticks to grammar. In the grammar of this poem, the climactic line is ‘The mystery that binds me still’. The following lines do little to explain what that mystery is. They provide a list of superficial, poor, visual images of natural phenomena ‘from’ which the mystery is said to have been ‘drawn’. The only helpful detail in them is the closing mention of seeing a cloud that looked to him like a demon, even though it was blue sky weather. Being an instance of seeing something memorably deathlike in a thing ordinarily regarded as momentary and of no importance, I read that as an attempt to return the poem to the track on which it started. As a result, what Poe is saying in his own way is that his distinction of taste, and his fascination for the dark side of things, is a mystery to him, but is something he has always lived with and always will. And he is convinced he is the only person who is like that.

  20. Tara says:

    This poem really reached out to me, I could feel the depth of the sorrow, and the way it was meant to be.

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