Im doing a literary analysis on Edgar Allan Poes poem "Alone" and im having a hard time finding interpretations and critisism on the poem "Alone" by Edgar Allan Poe. If possible what does "Alone" mean, what is it about? whats the significance between his life and his poem "Alone?" If you can help me out i deeply appreciate it.

-- Anonymous, November 07, 2002

Answers

The basic meaning of the poem is that as far as his childhood goes, he can't relate to anyone else's. He had a very bad childhood, so what other kids experienced{the one's who had a good childhood}, he can't comprehend. How can you comprehend a life that you never experienced. His poem is a reflection of his life. When he says "as others were I have not seen", he means that basically he can't connect with most of society as far as childhood goes.

-- Anonymous, November 07, 2002

I don't know if it helps, but in the first half(up to line 8) Poe is, to put it plainy, describing how he is, or atleast feels, different from everyone else. In reality, or his accual life, he was an obsesive person. This is projected in many of his other works, especialy "Annabel Lee," and "The Raven." This obsesiveness causes one to harp on the subject in which one is obsesed with, causing one to seclude oneself from others, from life, and in extreme cases from reality, which makes it entirely plausable that he thought of himself different from others. In the second half (line 9-end) Poe is, again to put it plainly, describing his ill fated outlook on life. Aparent in most all the majority of his works, he naver looks positively at death, but always asumes the worst in all his works, in "Alone" he is asuming the fate of hell, with no hope. This is apparent when he says "And a cloud that took the form/ (When the rest of Heaven was blue)/ Of a demon in my view- " He is telling of his fate without hope in these last three lines; when he says that all the rest of "Heaven"(notice that he purposely capitalized heaven) is blue, a dark cloud forms in the shape of a demon "in my view." This phrase "in my view" is both literal and symbolic. Yes, he is seeing this cloud, but he is also saying that he percieves it as a demon, not that it is, but that is how he sees it. This can also be linked to his obsesiveness, but more simply, most of the happenings in his life were not things to look forward to. So, naturaly, one would eventualy lose all hope in life if enough things went wrong. It was near imposible for Poe to move on, or, to say more loftily, to transcend the happenings of his life due to his exposure at a young age, no figure to which he count on for love, and, of course, his highly excessive drinking.

I hope this helps you, if you have any more questions or comments, please, e-mail me. I am no scholar, but I will do my best.

-- Anonymous, November 07, 2002

Hi there.

I'm no litterature student, nor poe specialist, but just a computer addict with a strong appeal in poe poetry (well, it s the only poet i really love to read with lovecraft).

Alone is one of poe's poem that really create a strong strange feeling. I just have no clue why :)

I think this poem is an ode to geekdoom, remember while at school those guys with few friends, strong appetite for litterature or science . I m sure they just feel this way: all i loved, i loved alone.

My 2cents.

-- Anonymous, November 10, 2002