Alone

This week I will start interpreting Edgar Alan Poe's works. The first one I would like to begin with is a poem written in his childhood called Alone. This poem has a lot of hidden messages so I will talk about its meaning. Keep in mind that this is my interpretation meaning anyone could have a completely different opinion about the symbolism of this poem. Here is a link: Alone by Edgar Allan Poe


Firstly, I feel as if this poem was directly related to Poe's childhood. Although some of his Gothic stories about murders may not be about him, this one could easily be linked to his life as a youth. "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..." These first few lines of Poe's poem demonstrate his feelings toward his peers. He claims to be different than everyone else the very first line. He proceeds by explaining how he doesn't see things the same way as others see them and he can't seem to find common passions with the other kids. This makes him feel excluded and alienated due to his differences. He seems to be more of an awkward child that doesn't fit in with anyone.

"...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..." This part of the poem continues by demonstrating that Poe could not feel the same things as those surrounding him. When they are sad, he does not understand why. When they feel happy, he can't seem to feel the same joy. He is very different and the things that he likes aren't things that the other children like so he feels very 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:..." This represents the trigger in his life. It is describing an event which changed his life forever, which ends up being the beginning of a dark, "stormy life". It still affects him and "binds" him, not allowing an escape from this constant darkness and sorrow. This trigger, in my opinion, would be when his mother died. Although he was too young at the time to understand, he could look back at it when he wrote this poem realizing how much better off he would've been with his real mother. He comes to realization that his father had ditched their family so Poe feels a strong sense of abandonment.

"...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..." Here, Edgar describes the happy things in life. In my opinion, the image he creates here is absolutely beautiful. He is describing the natural beauties in life. At the same time when he describes "the sun that round me roll'd" it could represent his life just passing by in a blur. He is no longer keeping track of the days because he can't bring himself to care any longer. His childhood is rolling by.  

"...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..." This part of "Alone" contradicts the wonderful things he described in the previous verse. He is portrays the darkness of a storm. It could be an example of all the chaos going on at the moment, with the lightning and the thunder and the overwhelmingly, numerous feelings and thoughts that are running through his head. These two parts together show that although he sees the nice things in life that make others happy, they do not affect him because they are hidden by a dark rain cloud representing his thoughts that are constantly in a chaotic cluster. His feelings are comparable to the dark, dismal mood of a storm. 

"...(When the rest of Heaven was blue) of a demon in my view."  In this final verse, Poe describes the dark storm cloud in the shape of a demon. He says that "the rest of Heaven was blue" meaning the rest of the world was happy, beautiful and amazing like he described earlier. On the other hand, this "demon" was blocking his sight and how he saw the world. Although he knows there are good things surrounding him there is an obstacle preventing him from being happy. This obstacle could be, like I mentioned before, his mixed up feelings about the loneliness he feels and the loss and abandonment due to the death of his mother. Another twist on the demon image could be his foster father. I did not go into great detail about his childhood life in the biography, but it was thought that Edgar's foster dad abused him physically and mentally. (What influenced Edgar Allan Poe's works?) This means that he could have used the demon as an image representing the conflict and abuse he dealt with at home because of his foster dad. In conclusion, this poem could very possibly represent Edgar Allan Poe's childhood because of the similar comparisons between his tragedies, his feelings and his conflicts.     

Ideas used from grade ten English class oral discussion