Edgar Allan Poe Alone

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Alone is a poem by Edgar Allen Poe, an American poet, author, editor, and literary critic. The title of this poem perfectly captures the mood of its quite emotional meanings. The tone of the poem is sombre and dark, constantly keeping a melancholy feel with simple but powerful language. This is lyric poem is an emotional piece by Poe looking back onto his lonely childhood with sadness. He contrasts his upbringing with others, starkly different because the tragic deaths of his parents and therefore being alone for the majority of the time. The theme of the poem is that being alone for your childhood can lead to a complicated and 'stormy' life, as consequence of both bad and good influences. In his poem he utilises many techniques, the three …show more content…
The metaphors that Poe uses develops deeper imagery then simpler terms. One of the metaphors he uses compares his life to a day, evidence of which is; "From childhood's hour I have not been… then - in my childhood - in the dawn, of a most stormy life - was drawn". Poe compares his life to a day, with his life 'being drawn in the dawn', in the beginning, starting with his childhood. His life, which he calls 'stormy', starts with his childhood, which he is trying to tell us, the reader. The reason for his 'stormy' life is as consequence of his adolescence, which was predominately spent alone. Poe also puts in metaphors regarding the influences from his childhood. The negative, sadder descriptions are used to show his bad influences - 'lightning in the sky' - and the better ones his good influences - 'the sun that 'round me roll'd'. This use of metaphors to describe his influences better describes the strong emotions he felt at the time, giving a more emotional poem. Other examples of use of metaphors are; "My passions from a common spring", from the torrent or the fountain", and "from the sun that 'round me roll'd". The 'common spring' Poe refers to is the experiences that all other children his age could have, which he missed out on due to his circumstances. It adds emotion to the poem, making the reader kind of feel the sadness Poe experienced as a child. Using metaphors makes the poem extremely personal and representative of Poe's real