ALONE

by Edgar Allan Poe (1830)

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.

what exactly does this poem mean??if anybody has any ideas or opinions about it please respond..

-- Anonymous, April 26, 2003

Answers

A quick answer. the first part is about his special aloneneess since childhood concetrating on his unique and elevated sensitivity. "The mystery whcih binds me still" THEN he describes his vision, his revelation of the character of his poetic calling in the awesome feelings of nature suddenly sweeping to the lonely cloud. Now his poetic character is fixed. Similar in fact to the prophet Elijah's vision of God in the silence not the storm. "Demon" does not connote an evil spirit but a "daemon" a nature spiritual force with more function than identity, more character than personality, perhaps a Muse but not as orderly, safe or amiable.

-- Anonymous, April 27, 2003

What Mr. Poe means, is that his life was hard. Full of hardships, and the demon he speaks is no spirit, but a personal demon you fight within yourself. Not being able to see as others see, meaning he was different, he wasnt one of the happy shining people as everyone already knows. He saw things for what they were not what he would make them. This poem is simply of lonliness and a battle with personal demons that plague us day to day.

-- Anonymous, May 01, 2003