Creative Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe's Poem - Alone

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 of the Poem

Poe’s poem “Alone” is the real reflection of how his life had been. The poem is about how Poe led a life much different from those of the same age around him; and how he could never fit in. It is a clear depiction of his feelings of sorrow that he went through due to being the “odd one out” or a “misfit”. The first few lines of the poem emphasise on how he missed out on his childhood since he never really got a chance to live a normal life. He observed how kids around him lived a normal life and compared his life to theirs and realized that he could never match it. This can be highly attributed to the loss of Poe’s parents at his early life and his childhood which was majorly spent in foster homes. Poe expresses his wish to lead the same life as others and be happy but he is unable to do so because of his circumstances that drew him even further away from people. This can be understood by the line “My passion from a common spring; from the same source I have not taken;” where the common spring symbolizes the spring of happiness of which everyone has drank the water but not him.

In the lines “My sorrow I could not awaken, my heart to joy at the same tone; and all I loved, I loved alone.” Poe expresses his lamentation of being unable to let go of the grief and rekindle the spark of happiness and joy. He is so bogged down by the events in his life that he feels that he is destined for such a doomed life where he’ll never manage to fit in. He wants to love and be loved but he feels incapable of doing so since everyone he ever loved was taken away from him. First his parents, when he was a young lad of three, and then his wife, Victoria, who died at an early age. His relationship with his step father is also said to be a strained one. Thus, Poe feels abandoned and yearns for getting the love he is willing to share.

Poe seeks  a reason of his existence and refers to it as a “mystery”. He continuously tries to figure out why he was born, a question that many do not even think of. This is reflected in the lines “ Then in my childhood, in the dawn; of a most stormy life was draw; from every depth of good and ill; the mystery that binds me still.” He also tries to investigate the mystery of his reason for existing to great depths, which he believes, nobody has gone to. The next few lines describe how he went till great heights; climbed every mountain and dug deep into the ground; to solve his mystery of existence and why was he born the way he was.  “From the sun that round me rolled; In its autumn tint of gold; From the lighting in the sky; As it passed me flying by; From the thunder and the storm;” These lines symbolize the quick passage of time while he was interrogating his surroundings but the mystery failed him and the answers are yet to be discovered. In the last three lines, Poe discovers that there is a force preventing him to lead a normal life like others and be happy. He believes this force to be in the form of a cloud that is standing in the way of him and happiness and is playing the role of a “demon” while blocking his view of the sunlight which is happiness.

Pictorial Analysis of the Poem

The painting depicts two scenarios. The top-left being the brighter one with the sunlight being bestowed upon the rest of the normal people. The sunlight here symbolizes happiness. This brighter half depicts the other normal people leading a life; from having a happy childhood with a supportive family to having great childhood buddies and growing up with them; from falling in love with the love of their life to having a blessed marriage and family with them. The chimney at the top of the house depicts a secure life and the smoke coming out of the chimney depicts that the family has ample food to survive on. The next phase shows the green normal kid, growing up with his buddies and his journey from a see-saw to owning a car. The next two phases are the green normal boys step towards finding his love and settling happily with her. The use of bright colours is deliberate to signify a happy and joyful scenario. Even the dividing line is red towards the happier side. This can also be depicted by the smile on every one’s face.

As opposed to the brighter side, the lower- right symbolizes Poe and the shadows of his troubled past which is unable to let go of. The use of shadows is deliberate even though the moon is crescent and is not casting much light. The shadows signify his parents who left him when he was three years old and Victoria, his wife whose shadow is slightly away from that of Poe’s because of their recent separation.  The use of dark blue as the background is deliberate as even Poe refers to the heavens to be blue and signifies it to be a colour representing grief. Poe’s highlighted in blue depicting the elements of his aura to be sadness and sorrow and is coloured in shades of black since he exists as a nobody in the world. The shadows are also drawn as a reference for Poe to solve his mystery i.e. why has he come into this world and what is his purpose in life. Also, his shadow is coloured dark black because of the negativity, which is also referred to as the demon in the poem.