Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Alone

Post by: Sarah Y
Personally, I love the works of Poe: mainly the way he plays with the English language. Here is one of his poems.

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.

by Edgar Allan Poe

2 comments:

ENG3U Student said...

This poem is really sad, and it makes me feel bad for the speaker. Is it just me or does Edgar Allan Poe have a knack for depressing people?
However, I must say that I admire his way of tapping into emotions and turning them into images.
-Charu

ENG3U Student said...

Sarah,

Interesting selection. "Demon in my view", the final line of the poem is so characteristic of Poe's gothic tendencies. The piece is written in rhyming couplets. How else does Poe "play with language" in this particular poem?

-Mr. G