Poetry Analysis “Alone” by

Edgar Allan Poe

Dewangga Nurwahyu Rizki

30801600290
Book Review 2
Background

Alone (1829)
Edgar Allan Poe, an American writer,
editor, and literary critic.
Originally written in 1829 and left untitled
and unpublished during Poe's lifetime
 Problem Formulation

What is the message implied from the

poem “Alone”?
 Context

Poe had a difficult childhood. His father was

known to be abusive. He was orphaned at a tender
age when his mother died shortly after his father
abandoned his family.
He was adopted by John Allan, believed to be
his godfather. Though he had a loving relationship
with his adopted mother, he had his differences with
John. This poem seems like a retrospection of his
difficult childhood.
 “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—”
Yet in this message, we see that Poe relates this trouble
differently than those commonly plagued with gloom.
This darker tone is a facet of his character. He was not
as others were. He saw things through a much different light.
Where averagely others saw passions and goodness in only the
lighthearted things like spring, he saw the beauty of the dark
and the peculiar.
 “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 selfsame peculiarity of his personality has

also been a great source of pain to the great author.
His unique outlook has brought him to the deeply
haunted mental pain that is genius.
His sorrow was like a deep sleep from which he
could not stir. His isolation is found even in the things
he loves. All he loves, all he touches, echoes with this
same pervasive isolating grief.
 “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—”

Here the author discloses the mystery that engulfs him

like a storm cloud. All of his life’s goods and evils have been
encased in this code that he cannot crack on his own and
neither can anyone else give him the answer to it. His mind is
enigmatic to himself.
This only compounds his problem as he, predisposed to
despair, cannot find the hopeful variable in this giftedness. Thus
Poe was burdened with a weighty melancholy that led him to a
great many addictions and social problems.
 Conclusion

Poe speaks about his uniqueness. Unfortunately, he was

never able to fit in and found himself melancholy throughout his
childhood. In his relationships, he was often left out.
The purpose of the poem is psychologically sound if it is
true that it helps to write out what the person feels is wrong in
his life.