The Poem “Alone” by Edgar Allan Poe

The Poem “Alone” by Edgar Allan Poe , is perceived to be about the childhood past of Poe. With his writing styles of mystery and macabre, this poem ties into with that by reflecting on his dark, lonely, deceptive and indifferent childhood. As the poem tends to unfold the author shows signs of sadness, he’s comparing his life to others from his childhood because he didn’t have the luxury they had growing up. Being an orphan or a foster kid can take a huge toll on one’s mind, he was deeply impacted by the cruel,loneliness growing up, being positive and happy was a huge obstacle to overcome. In the beginning of the poem he refers to that his childhood was very different from the normal,which was true in many cases.

At an early age the way he viewed life wasn’t normal, his emotions were different from every sense emotional,physical, and mental. As Edgar Allan Poe states in the poem “ I have not seen as others saw” what he means byt his si that his point of view of life and how things are perceived are at a different value to thoses who he grew up around. Also he states “I could not bring my passions from a common spring” which can be interpreted as a metaphor for the way he feels or where his feelings came from. A “common spring” is referred to everyone that wasn’t him and how their feelings and desires all generated from one common place whereas Poes came from somewhere totally different. Edgars upbringing was no cherry ride, through his childhood eyes he saw that every child around him got ecstatic about the same thing , like leaving a “kid in a candy store” whereas Poes “candy” was driven opposite.

As a child you have no cares in the world ,the greatest thing they have is their expandable imagenation. Since he describes a part of his childhood as “stormy” his misery,unhappiness was graver. The things that would excite a child has a different reaction towards him. “Then-in my childhood-in the dawn, Of a most stormy life-was drawn, From ev’ry depth of good and ill, The Mystery binds me still”. (Edgar Allen Poe “Alone”) That part in the poem is quite unique because it gives the sense of feel towards a sense of change in pace, as it starts with the word then. Even though he’s writing this poem as a flashback of his childhood,it feels like a bit of of a mystery is starting to storm. He says “the dawn-,Of a most stormy night” is used as a metaphor , yet dawn is portrayed as starting over ,a new day, since childhood adolescence is part of the start of life. While thinking back on his childhood he realizes that most bad things in his life started in his childhood instead of a beautiful start to his childhood his started as a “storm”. He subsequently says that his childhood lead to the ups and downs and way downs of his adult life and the day of the “storm” was just the tip of the iceberg.

Towards the end of the stanza he used the word bind which is used as being manipulated,tied up or enchained. The way Poe uses the word mystery ties it all together because the speaker says “its comes from every depth good and ill” his childhood started off on a ruff patch and the mystery still has a hold of him and through his experiences good and bad. For example the good referring to the loving relationship he had with his adopted mother and the ill as his dismantled childhood from adoption,and the death of his birth parents. As Poe looks back on his childhood,he knows what the reader doesn’t know thats where mystery plays its role. When broken down it gives the feel of Poe having a sixth sense in a way which explains why he felt, seen, and experienced things out of the ordinary as a kid,maybe there was more to it than just being different.