alone edgar allan poe essay

Alone Summary & Analysis by Edgar Allan Poe

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis
Poetic Devices
Vocabulary & References
Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme
Line-by-Line Explanations

Edgar Allan Poe wrote "Alone" in 1829, shortly after the death of his foster mother, Frances Allan. The poem was not titled or published in Poe's lifetime, but was discovered after his death and published posthumously in 1875. In this autobiographical poem, a speaker describes his lifelong feelings of loneliness, isolation, and difference. His intense imaginative life, he writes, is a curse, forever setting him apart from other people. But it's also a blessing, the source of his visionary power.

Read the full text of “Alone”

The Full Text of “Alone”

1 From childhood’s hour I have not been

2 As others were—I have not seen

3 As others saw—I could not bring

4 My passions from a common spring—

5 From the same source I have not taken

6 My sorrow—I could not awaken

7 My heart to joy at the same tone—

8 And all I lov’d—I lov’d alone—

9 Then —in my childhood—in the dawn

10 Of a most stormy life—was drawn

11 From ev’ry depth of good and ill

12 The mystery which binds me still—

13 From the torrent, or the fountain—

14 From the red cliff of the mountain—

15 From the sun that ’round me roll’d

16 In its autumn tint of gold—

17 From the lightning in the sky

18 As it pass’d me flying by—

19 From the thunder, and the storm—

20 And the cloud that took the form

21 (When the rest of Heaven was blue)

22 Of a demon in my view—

“Alone” Summary

“alone” themes.

Loneliness, Isolation, and Difference

See where this theme is active in the poem.

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “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 lov’d—I lov’d alone—

Then —in my childhood—in the dawn Of a most stormy life—was drawn From ev’ry depth of good and ill The mystery which binds me still—

Lines 13-16

From the torrent, or the fountain— From the red cliff of the mountain— From the sun that ’round me roll’d In its autumn tint of gold—

Lines 17-19

From the lightning in the sky As it pass’d me flying by— From the thunder, and the storm—

Lines 20-22

And the cloud that took the form (When the rest of Heaven was blue) Of a demon in my view—

“Alone” Symbols

See where this symbol appears in the poem.

“Alone” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

Parallelism.

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Anadiplosis

“alone” vocabulary.

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

Childhood's Hour
Common Spring
Good and Ill
See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Alone”

Rhyme scheme, “alone” speaker, “alone” setting, literary and historical context of “alone”, more “alone” resources, external resources.

Publication History — Read about the publication history of the poem, from its first appearance to the present day.

The Poem Aloud — Hear the poem read aloud by the actor Basil Rathbone.

Biography and Poems — Read a biography of Poe at the Poetry Foundation, and find links to more of his work.

The Poe Museum — Learn more about Poe's life, times, and works at the website of the Edgar Allan Poe Museum.

LitCharts on Other Poems by Edgar Allan Poe

A Dream Within a Dream

Annabel Lee

Sonnet to Science

The Conqueror Worm

Ask LitCharts AI: The answer to your questions

A Short Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘Alone’

By Dr Oliver Tearle

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49) wrote ‘Alone’ when he was still very young – only 21 years of age. The poem remained unpublished until 1875, over a quarter of a century after Poe’s death. The sentiment is, indeed, something that many of us can relate to from our teenage years and youth: feeling all alone and that we are a misfit in the world around us, not just physically but emotionally alone. Here is Poe’s poem, followed by some words of analysis.

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 lov’d—I lov’d alone— Then—in my childhood—in the dawn Of a most stormy life—was drawn From ev’ry 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 roll’d In its autumn tint of gold— From the lightning in the sky As it pass’d 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—

It’s one of the paradoxes of adolescence that everyone goes through exactly the same thing: feeling as though they are different from everyone else.

In lines of iambic tetrameter rhyming couplets – a bitingly ironic rhyme scheme to adopt, since Poe’s poem is about his own failure to couple with anyone or find his companion or complement – Poe outlines the tragedy of being different, of not being part of the crowd. Like a sort of belated Romantic (and in many ways Poe’s poetry remains firmly part of the Romantic tradition), Poe broods over his solitariness.

Poe’s ‘Alone’ ends seemingly mid-sentence, mid-thought, with a dash – paving the way for another solitary American poet of the nineteenth century, Emily Dickinson . Poe himself would die, aged just forty, having been found alone on the streets of Baltimore.

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4 thoughts on “A Short Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘Alone’”

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Superb! I love Poe’s stories but didn’t know this poem.😊

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Alone by Edgar Allan Poe: Complete and Detailed Analysis

What do you imagine when you hear the name “Edgar Allan Poe”? A dark, cloudy sky with a bright full moon. A leafless tree’s silhouette dimly lit by moonlight. And most importantly, a raven sitting on one of the branches. This is the idiosyncratic style of Edgar Allan Poe, and the poem Alone by him is an explanation for why he was like that. One could say that Alone is an autobiography for Edgar Allan Poe’s creative style.

This article will include the poem, analysis, and meaning along with the summary of Alone by Edgar Allan Poe. We’ll also look into the literary devices of the poem which are a lot in this poem. These include the imagery, tone, mood, theme, allusion, rhyme scheme, assonance, metaphors, refrain, simile, etc. We’ll also add a context-based interpretation of the poem for an easy understanding. Let’s start with the poem.

Alone by Edgar Allan Poe

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 lov’d—I lov’d alone—

Then—in my childhood—in the dawn

Of a most stormy life—was drawn

From ev’ry 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 roll’d

In its autumn tint of gold—

From the lightning in the sky

As it pass’d 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—

About the poem Alone by Edgar Allan Poe

Alone was written by Edgar Allan Poe in the year 1829 when he was merely 21 years old of age. Out of all the poems, he has written, shrouded in mystery, this is his most self-revealing one. This poem was not published during the lifetime of Poe. It was published in the year 1875, 26-years after the death of the poet.

Alone is a poem about the peculiar and singular nature of the poet. It is more like a poetic essay or an answer to the question people may have asked about the style of the poet. This secluded misfit in the society who could not bring himself to like and enjoy the things everyone else enjoyed, not feel pain from what others felt. And of course, his fascination with things dark and gloomy, of death and decay.

This is the context for this poem. Poe had a tough childhood. He lost his mother at a very early age and never could find a stable life. This poem serves as the explanation for that. And since it was written so early in his life, his nature only expanded, becoming more and more of him, until it was all Edgar Allan Pie was.

Line by line analysis of the poem

There are no line breaks or stanzas in this poem. But for ease of explanation, we’ll divide the poem into smaller chunks based on the meaning and message.

This part of the poem is the poet telling why he was different and also why considered himself to be different from others. From childhood, he was not like other children, could not see or hear the world the way they did.

He could not take his passions from the common springs meaning that like children often choose to become pilots, or doctors or astronauts, taking their dreams from a common pile, Poe’s passion was not in this bucket. He did not want to become what these other kids wanted to be.

Similarly for pain, he could not feel the sorrow or melancholy from what others did. Perhaps what people found to be dark and scary, to Poe it was intriguing and interesting. He could not feel the joy that other children felt from perhaps seeing a rainbow or a butterfly.

The gist of this stanza is that the things that normally invoke common feelings did not work for the poet. People would feel happy seeing a garden of flowers and feel threatened or scared by seeing a graveyard. But that was not the case with Edgar Allan Poe.

This short stanza shows the moment of change in the life of Poe. He found that he was the only one who loved the things he loved. This reinforced his alienation from the general public. It also showed his taste for very peculiar things. He sees things in a very different way. And in his childhood began a stormy life. And how did this life become stormy? Let’s see the last stanza.

This is the most important part of this poem about the revealing nature of the poem. This is where we get to know why the poet is the way he is. What compelled him to act and love the way he acted or the things he loved.

He wondered what is the source of good and evil, what makes things benevolent or malevolent? All these mysteries transfixed him, intrigued him. Everything around him was fascinating. From the brooks to the mountain, from the movement of the sun that rose from one end and set on the other to the brilliant lightning in the sky.

And then he saw the cloud, shapeless to many, and if you look closely, you can see whatever you want to in them. While most people see a flower or a rabbit, for Edgar Allan Poe, the cloud took the form of a demon. This is what he saw in the cloud, or perhaps what he wanted to see. Perhaps the demon was inside him, making him the peculiar one.

Meaning and explanation of the poem

The poem is about why the poet was the way he was, describing his childhood and his peculiarities. Edgar Allan Poe explains his nature. What we also get to see is the inner projection of the poet onto the world. His seeing a demon in the cloud is a nod to the gothic and dark style of the poet. It is not just that the poet has a style like that, but the poet is like that.

Everything in the world fascinated him, which most people would find boring. The line where he says, and I’m paraphrasing, the root of good and evil has bound him in mystery is a powerful one. This reveals a lot about the poet, his perspective on life.

Literary devices

As with all the poems by Edgar Allan Poe, there are a lot of literary devices in the poem. Let’s look at all of them with examples.

Imagery: Imagery has been heavily used in the poem, painting a picture for the readers and letting them see what Poe had seen. Examples of imagery in the poem include:

From the torrent, or the fountain, From the red cliff of the mountain, From the sun that ’round me roll’d, In its autumn tint of gold.

From the lightning in the sky, As it pass’d 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

Theme: There are major and minor themes in the poem. The major themes are loneliness, seclusion, being different, being the misfit, alienation, etc. The minor themes of the poem are nature, imagination, society, life, etc.

Metaphor : There are a lot of metaphors in the poem.

From childhood’s hour I have not been – Represents childhood

As others were— I have not seen – Represents a way of living life.

My passions from a common spring – Represents common passions that children mostly use.

My heart to joy at the same tone – Represents the same source of happiness.

Of a most stormy life —was drawn – Represents a turbulent and difficult life.

From ev’ry depth of good and ill – Represents the source of good and evil.

(When the rest of Heaven was blue) – Represents the vast blue sky.

Of a demon in my view – Shows the innate nature of the poet.

Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same lines. Here the examples are:

From the same source I have not taken

And all I lov’d —I lov’d alone—

Enjambment: Enjambment is a poetic device in which a line breaks off before completion and carries on to the next line. Enjambment is heavily used in this poem. Here are some examples;

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—

Rhyme Scheme: Almost all the poems by Edgar Allan Poe are lyrical. This means that they all have a well-defined rhyming pattern. The poem Alone has a rhyming pattern of AABB.

Refrain : Refrain is the repetition of a sentence in a poem. It is used to emphasize the importance of that particular line and how it relates to the poem. Here are some examples:

As others were—I have not seen

As others saw—I could not bring

Assonance : Assonance is a powerful poetic device in which the sound of a particular vowel is repeated either consecutively or in a single sentence. Edgar Allan Poe is famous for using assonance. These are some examples from this poem:

From the same source I have not taken – the sound of /a/

Quotes from the poem Alone

Here are some powerful quotes from the poem:

I could not bring

My passions from a common spring

This concludes the article. But that should not end your reading. So here are some more poems and their analysis that you will find very interesting. Take a look:

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Here’s a Poem by Emily Dickinson that Will Fill Your Heart with Hope
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Privacy Overview

by Edgar Allan Poe

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 lov’d— I lov’d alone — Then —in my childhood—in the dawn Of a most stormy life—was drawn From ev’ry 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 roll’d In its autumn tint of gold— From the lightning in the sky As it pass’d 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—

Meanings of Alone

The poem “Alone” by Edgar Allan Poe shows feelings of loneliness and disappointment. It presents the main idea of isolation, indifference to the world, and the uniqueness of the speaker .

Meanings of Lines 1-8

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 lov’d— I lov’d alone—

The speaker presents his unique persona in simple terms. He states that he has not been like others, and he has realized it since his childhood. He adds that he has also not seen the world like others or what others have seen. He further states that he could not become happy or excited as others used to or other people did. Similarly, the sources of his sorrow were also different. He also failed to awaken his heart to feel the same joy as other people feel at the same tone. In fact, he argues that even in the case of love, he is alone. He has loved in his own way, different from others. The speaker means that he has done everything differently from others which is the unique feature of his persona. These verses add to the main idea of the different and unique personality of a person.

Meanings of Lines 9-22

Then —in my childhood—in the dawn Of a most stormy life—was drawn From ev’ry 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 roll’d In its autumn tint of gold— From the lightning in the sky As it pass’d 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—

The speaker states that he discovered the forces of good and evil during his childhood which was the start of his life full of storms. He adds that these mysterious forces have kept hold of him since then. There is a mystery for him that comes from torrents or fountains, or the red cliff of the mountain, or the golden halo of the sun. This mystery also comes from the yellowish color of the autumn, lightning in the sky that flies past the speaker, or the thunder of a storm, or even the cloud that becomes a demon in the eyes of the speaker, while the rest of the sky is blue. In fact, the speaker wants to tell the readers that he is different in that he has a sense of good and evil and that this mystery has dawned upon him when living in the lap of nature. Now it has taken hold of his mind in that a demon comes into his imagination when a cloud moves in the sky, and his mind starts taking every other shape of the cloud as a demon. This shows the uniqueness, difference, and isolation of the persona of the speaker. This shows the main idea of the poem, as given in the title.

Summary of Alone

Popularity of “Alone”: Edgar Allan Poe, a famous American poet and fiction writer, wrote ‘Alone’. It is a lyrical poem comprising gloomy and dark reflections on one’s life. It was first published in Scribner’s Monthly in 1875. The poem recollects the childhood memories of the speaker. It also illustrates how the experiences of his childhood have affected his life.
“Alone” As a Representative of Loneliness: This poem is written from the perspective of an adult who remembers his troubled childhood, which made him gloomy. The speaker says that he has been different from others since his childhood and was not brought up in a typical family setting . He spent most of his time alone and could not get a chance to share his thoughts, feelings, and experiences with others. Therefore, his perception of life and nature differs from the people who have enjoyed childhood. He adds while others look up at the sky to see heaven and angels, he only sees darkness . In fact, the demons inside him never allow him to see or sense anything positive. He fails to adore nature’s beauty . Although his life has been filled with good and bad events, it is still gloomy and dark due to his painful childhood.
Major Themes in “Alone”: Loneliness, sadness, and negativity are the major themes of the poem. The tormented speaker allows the reader to see glimpses of his childhood and bitter experiences that changed his perception of life as a whole. The somber and dark tone of the poem gives a direct clue to the tragic early years of the speaker’s life. It is due to the isolation he faced at that time the speaker is still experiencing sorrow.

Analysis of Literary Devices in “Alone”

literary devices are tools that enable writers to enhance their simple texts to bring richness and uniqueness in the texts and open multiple interpretations. Edgar Allan Poe used these tools to describe the bitter feelings of his childhood. The analysis of the literary devices used in this poem is given below.

Imagery : Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. For example, “From the red cliff of the mountain”, “From the thunder, and the storm” and “And the cloud that took the form”.
Consonance : Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /r/ in “From the torrent, or the fountain”.
Enjambment : It is a thought or clause that does not come to an end at a line break but instead moves over the next line. For example,

“From the sun that ’round me roll’d In its autumn tint of gold.”

Anaphora : It refers to the repetition of a word or expression in the first part of some verses. For example, “as others” is repeated in the opening lines to show his intense loneliness.
Personification : Personification is to give human qualities to inanimate objects . For example, in the final lines of the poem, “When the rest of Heaven was blue” he personifies ‘the heavens’ as if it can feel sad.
Alliteration : Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /l/ in “And all I lov’d— I lov’d alone.”

Analysis of Poetic Devices in “Alone”

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

Stanza : A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. It is a long poem having twenty-two lines with no stanza break.
Rhyme Scheme : The rhyme scheme followed by the entire poem is AABB .
Iambic Tetrameter: It is a type of meter having four iambs per line. The poem follows iambic tetrameter such as, “From child hood’s hour I have not ”

Quotes to be Used

The lines stated below can be used to adore the majestic beauty of nature. These can also be used to describe a place one has just visited.

“From the torrent, or the fountain— From the red cliff of the mountain— From the sun that ’round me roll’d In its autumn tint of gold— From the lightning in the sky.”

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Alone by Edgar Allan Poe, a poem analysis

Are you looking for an analysis of Edgar Allan Poe’s poem Alone? You are in luck, this is the most comprehensive analysis you will find anywhere!

First, we will offer a summary of the poem Alone, along with providing some background information. Second, we will then do a line-by-line analysis of the poem. Finally, we’ll explore its meaning offer some interpretations.

Alone by Edgar Allan Poe: Summary

The poem Alone by Edgar Allan Poem is a relatively short poem. The theme of the poem is that of loneliness. The poem can be summarized in the following manner. The narrator has felt alone since childhood, and even now still feels alone. Why does the narrator feel so alone? Because they feel the source of their feelings is different from that of most other people. There is a strong sense of alienation that has resulted from perceiving the world in such a vastly different way than other people do. The poem ends on a harrowing note, that the narrator will always be doomed to see a demon in his view. Who or what is this demon? We’ll explore this in our analysis of the poem Alone below.

Alone by Edgar Allan Poe: Background

The background for the poem Alone by Edgar Allan Poe is both fascinating and helpful for an analysis. We encourage those studying the poem or doing their own analysis to familiarize themselves with the circumstances surrounding its birth.

Edgar Allan Poe’s natural mother died when he was very young, and his natural father had already abandoned him. He was adopted by the John Allan family, and while he grew to become very fond of his adopted mother, he developed a very stormy relationship with is adopted father. In 1829 he had been separated from both his adopted parents and was doing a stint in the military. His adopted mother died early that year—and surely this hurt the twenty year old Poe a great deal. It was the second time in his life he’d had to deal with a mother’s death. In that same year he got an honorary discharge from the military and applied for West Point, where he hoped he could eventually attain a position in the military as a high level officer.

While Poe was waiting on his anticipated admittance into West Point, rather than going back home to his adopted father, whom he was quarreling with, he chose instead to stay in Baltimore with relatives from his birth family, including his older brother William Henry Leonard Poe. While he was with his relatives for less than a year, during this time, we can guess that he met Lucy Holmes and befriended her. Who was Lucy Holmes ? Little is known about her except that she eventually married Isaiah Balderston who became Chief Judge of the Orphans Court in Baltimore. Holmes kept over a period of several years an autograph book. It was a popular custom at the time to keep a leather bound book of blank pages and to fill it with poems and messages from family and friends. One could perhaps think of it as a kind of high school yearbook being signed by all your friends.

While we don’t know what Poe’s relationship was with Lucy Holmes, we do know that both he and his elder brother Henry wrote poems for Holme’s autograph book. While Henry’s poem took up the theme of lost love , Edgar Allan Poe’s contribution was the poem Alone. After this, he apparently never attempted to publish the poem—and perhaps even forgot about it. However, relatives of Lucy Holmes eventually came across the poem in her autograph book. By that time, although Poe had already died, his reputation had only continued to increase. The relatives had the poem published in 1875 in Scribner’s Monthly. It was in Scribner’s that the poem received its name, Alone. Initially, the poem Alone was denounced as a forgery. However, subsequent scholarship has again and again supported the contention that the poem Alone was indeed written by Edgar Allan Poe.

We think that any analysis need to consider that Poe wrote the poem Alone for a young lady’s autograph book, thus it was probably intended to be highly personal and expressive.

Alone by Edgar Allan Poe: Meter and Rhyme

The poem Alone by Edgar Allan Poe is twenty-two lines. It consists of eleven rhyming couplets. Each pairing rhyme is only used once. Meter in the the poem is varied skillfully so as to maximize the impact of each line. The first line is in iambic pentameter , so long as both “child” and “hour” are given two syllables, otherwise it could be argued to be in iambic terameter. The next eleven lines are clearly in iambic tetrameter . Lines thirteen to seventeen change the pace of the poem, and are in trochaic tetrameter . Finally, the last two lines, while still in trochaic tetrameter drop the last beat, and thus are catalectic . This adds much drama to the end of the poem.

The main point to take away from the meter of the poem, as far as an analysis of Alone, is the dramatic shift after line twelve. The first twelve lines are describing almost exclusively the narrator’s attitude—but then from line thirteen something external to the narrator is being described. An analysis of Alone should note the change in tone here. We’ve gone from the narrator’s internal viewpoint to describing something. What is being described we don’t know until the last two lines—and when the actual revelation takes place, the last beat of each line is dropped adding a punch to the ending. We think it unlikely that when Edgar Allan Poe wrote Alone that he planned the meter this way—we think it just came to him naturally.

To sum up, we think an analysis should take into account the shifts in tone the changes in meter create. Meter is used in the first half of the poem to give a narrative feel to the poem, while in the second half to build suspense, and then to release it.

Alone by Edgar Allan Poe: A Line by Line Analysis

Here we will offer an analysis of the poem Alone by Edgar Allan Poe. We will go through each line and offer separate points. Each point is not necessarily connected with the one that precedes it.

Alone by Edgar Allan Poe: Analysis of Lines 1 to 3

[1] From childhood’s hour I have not been [2] As others were—I have not seen [3] As others saw— …

• The opening two lines set out an important theme of the poem, that the narrator is fundamentally different from other people in some manner. Any analysis cannot help but to cover this point repetitively.

• Lines two and three give us the primary reason that the narrator is so different from others. It is that he sees things differently, and as we’ll see, this difference in viewpoint completely alters his emotional life.

• Consider what it means to see things differently. Observation is always selective . You might look at a picture and see one thing, but someone else might see something else entirely different. The narrator of the poem Alone is suggesting that he literally sees the world in a way that is quite different from other people. Thus you and he might look at the same picture, but what you see would be different. As a result, what you feel from looking at the picture will also be different. For an analysis of the poem Alone, this is a very important point.

• Good questions for an analysis of the poem Alone would be: why does the narrator see things differently? And if the narrator does see things differently, how does the narrator actually see things?

Alone by Edgar Allan Poe: Analysis of Lines 3 and 4

[3] … I could not bring [4] My passions from a common spring—

• The word ‘passions’ and ‘spring’ are both found here. Water is a common metaphor for emotions. Water ebbs and flows, and it is effusive and hard to contain, so the same can be said of our emotions. Passion wells up inside of us, at times overflowing. Thus the narrator suggests that while most people drink of a common spring, he drinks of a different spring. An analysis needs to consider why these metaphors are being chosen.

• The word spring suggests a source. So here we’re talking about the source of the narrator’s passion, his emotional life. Those things that cause passion to spring forth in most people are not the same things that cause passion to spring forth for the narrator. Surely he feels passion just as anyone else feels passion, but that which stimulates his passion is not the same as that of others.

Alone by Edgar Allan Poe: Analysis of Lines 5 to 6

[5] From the same source I have not taken [6] My sorrow—I could not awaken [7] My heart to joy at the same tone— [8] And all I lov’d—I lov’d alone—

• The first four lines establish that the narrator of the poem Alone views the world differently, and thus that which stimulates his passion is different from that of other people. This theme is then played upon in the next four lines and stated in various poetic ways to bring home the point.

• Lines five and six mention the ‘source’ of the narrator’s ‘sorrow’. He experiences the same sorrow as anyone else, but that which drives him into sorrow is something different.

• The reference to tone strikes one as a reference to sound and music. Again, observation is selective. This is no less true of sight than it is of sound. When the narrator listens to music, he’s not listening to the same music that everyone else is listening too. He’s picking up on different notes and rhythms that perhaps escape other ears. This leads to a different emotional reaction.

• Line eight is particularly important for our analysis, because it introduces the major theme of the poem. The narrator feels passion, sorrow, joy, and love at things that only he observes. Think about how quick we are to want to share our feelings with others. An important part of this sharing is that others understand our feelings. We want them to relate to our feelings; we want them to feel the same way we do. Yet, the narrator’s world is shaped by a very different perception of things. Again and again, he has stated that he doesn’t perceive the world the same way everyone else does. The result of this is that not only is his emotional life different, but this leads to him having a vastly different array of emotional experiences—that others cannot relate to. It’s as if he were living in a parallel world that no one can see but him.

Alone by Edgar Allan Poe: Analysis of Lines 9 to 12

[9] Then—in my childhood—in the dawn [10] Of a most stormy life—was drawn [11] From ev’ry depth of good and ill [12] The mystery which binds me still—

• The ‘then’ in line nine could easily throw someone off. If you read the ‘then’ as a sequential marker, it’s confusing, because the author is still speaking of childhood. Our analysis suggests the correct way to read ‘then’ is as the conclusion to an argument. If x, then y. The meaning of the word in this case is very close to the word ‘thus’.

• To paraphrase, lines one to eight, noted that the narrator observed the world in a fundamentally different way, and this thus led to a different emotional life, one which left him feeling alone. Lines nine to twelve then simply state that this loneliness drives him to ask, why does he perceive the world so differently? Any analysis of the poem needs to at minimum recognize this question and consider some potential answers.

• It’s important to note that the mystery is not how does the narrator view the world. Lines thirteen to twenty two will answer the question of how he views the world—however, they will not answer the question of why he views the world that way. The why of the matter will remain a mystery—though we can perhaps guess at the answer.

Alone by Edgar Allan Poe: Analysis of Lines 13 to 22

[13] From the torrent, or the fountain— [14] From the red cliff of the mountain— [15] From the sun that ’round me roll’d [16] In its autumn tint of gold— [17] From the lightning in the sky [18] As it pass’d me flying by— [19] From the thunder, and the storm— [20] And the cloud that took the form [21] (When the rest of Heaven was blue) [22] Of a demon in my view—

• It helps to understand the last ten lines by starting with the last three lines. Line twenty one notes a beautiful blue sky, yet from line twenty, we see that the narrator instead of focusing on the blue sky finds a specific cloud, and from its ‘form’ makes out the shape of a demon. Do you see what’s going on here? Someone else might have looked into the sky and seen just a beautiful sky with a wispy cloud or two. But he looks into the sky and what does he see? He focuses on a specific cloud and sees a demon. So whereas you might see a beautiful sky, the narrator sees a demon. This is a key point for any analysis of the poem Alone.

• Noting the point made above, go back to lines thirteen to fifteen that all start with ‘from’. Basically, what the narrator is going to say is that from this and from that, I perceive a demon. Just as he sees the demon in the cloud, he sees that demon everywhere he looks. You might see a beautiful ‘fountain’ or a ‘red cliff’ or the rolling ‘sun’, but what does the narrator see? A demon.

• So from all the beautiful images given in thirteen to twenty one, the narrator, while being aware of these things, is focused on something that no one else sees, a demon. It’s because he perceives this demon in everything that his emotional experiences are so different. This is what creates his sense of being alone.

• Beyond this there are some other interesting points to note. All four of the classic elements can be found. Water is present in the fountain. Earth is present in the mountain. Fire is present in the sun. Air is present in the storming sky, as it flies by the narrator. So basically in every element he sees his demon. This is a wonderful use of metaphors.

• Also, note that we aren’t strictly talking about visual clues here. Water can be felt or tasted. A mountain can be climbed, you can feel the earth. Thunder is mentioned, and clearly that is a sound. So the demon is not something perceived only in a visual sense. As already noted earlier in our analysis of line seven, the narrator perceives even tones differently.

• The demon is surely a metaphor for something, much the way we talk about personal demons. We’ll suggest some possibilities below, however, as the narrator states, this is the central mystery of his life. An analysis of alone does not need to necessarily answer this question so much as recognize it is there. There might not be any easy answers here.

Alone by Edgar Allan Poe: Meaning and Interpretation

Clearly people familiar with Edgar Allan Poe knew that he wrote poems and stories that often highlighted the darker aspects of life. He clearly was fascinated with the darker elements of our lives and of the world. So naturally, many readers of the poem take the meaning of the poem as straightforwardly noting his darker proclivities. The poem can then be read as stating that Poe was born seeing the world through a darker lens, this impacted his emotional life and made it harder for others to relate to him, thus he often felt alone. This is perhaps the simplest analysis available of the poem Alone.

There are certainly other interpretations of Alone that an analysis can suggest. Consider Poe’s situation at the time. His adopted mother had died leaving him. So for the second time in his life a mother had died on him. In both cases, his mother had been victimized by his father. His birth father had abandoned his birth mother before he’d even been born. His adopted father had carried on an extramarital relationship, causing a great deal of suffering to Poe’s adopted mother—certainly contributing to the illness from which she eventually died. Moreover, while Poe was abandoned by his natural father, he always felt that his adopted father did not treat him fairly, especially in financial matters. At the time, he was suffering from serious financial difficulties, and though his adopted father could have easily assisted him, he did so only meagerly. So who is the demon that Poe sees everywhere? In a sense, it could be a kind of sinister father figure that is always lurking everywhere threatening him.

Another way an analysis might interpret the poem might be to suggest Poe felt he had a greater awareness of how tragic life was—he had a greater awareness for death. In this sense he could be seen as more enlightened than those around him. He did not just perceive differently, but deeper as well, and what he saw via this deeper penetration into life was not pleasant. We all die. Death is coming for us sooner or later. Poe had lost many people close to him in death already. So here the demon could perhaps merely be representative of death. While many go through life trying not to think about death or almost pretending it doesn’t exist, Poe was starkly aware of it. In everything he could see death—and his awareness could not be drawn away from it. It is a demon that haunts his view everywhere.

We do not think any of our suggested interpretations are entirely conclusive. We think when considering different meanings of Alone, it’s important to remember that the poem was written for a young women in her autograph book. No doubt, Edgar Allan Poe wanted to express something about himself to her via the poem. This is the irony of the whole poem, and any analysis should note it. Poe manages via his poem to communicate his feelings to us! Despite how Alone he feels, by writing the poem and sharing his feelings with us, he no longer need think he is so alone. Of course, that is only in so far as some of us can actually understand and relate to what Poe says in the poem!

We hope you’ve enjoyed this analysis of Alone by Edgar Allan Poe. You mustn’t forget to subscribe to our updates, less you’ll leave us feeling alone. Please come back and visit us again soon!

We All Have Dreams

Some of us run from them. Some of us drown in them. At Shadow of Iris , we catch them.

Edgar Allan Poe

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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 lov’d— I lov’d alone— Then— in my childhood—in the dawn Of a most stormy life—was drawn From ev’ry 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 roll’d In its autumn tint of gold— From the lightning in the sky As it pass’d 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—

This poem is in the public domain.

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Edgar Allan Poe Alone Essay

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“From childhood’s hour I have not been As others were—I have not seen As others saw,” Poe has shown his readers that he has had one of the “most stormy life” (1-3, 10). Poe’s use of alliteration and “anaphora” in his poem “Alone” emphasizes the message Poe is trying to get across (Cummings). Also Poe’s use of a metaphor while in his poem “Alone” shows a great deal of how his childhood caused him to have a “most stormy life” (Cummings, 10). Poe’s different point of view strongly affected his “emotional life,” Poe hit’s a sensitive nerve when talking about his past and displays to his readers why “he sees things differently” (“Alone Poem Analysis”). Poe’s poem “Alone” had a strong sense of imagery “Alone” was Poe’s cry for help, “My sorrow—I could not awaken,” Poe is announcing that he can’t get escape from his sorrow and what “drives him to sorrow is something different” (6, “Alone Poem Analysis”). The sorrow and the “demon in my view—” led to “The mystery surrounding Poe's death” (22, Giordano). The strong metaphor of “demon” is talking about Poe’s personal demon, the reader might never know exactly what Poe was referring to because “this is the central mystery of his life” (22, “Alone Poem Analysis”). No one truly knows how Poe had died, the rumors still linger to this day. Poe’s reputation didn’t flourish until after his

The Essays, Sketches and Lectures of Edgar Allan Poe

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Sections: The Collections and Books The Essays, etc. Related Material Bibliography

The Collections and Books:

Editions Authorized by Poe:

Poe published only one of his lectures during his life. This was “The Universe,” published as Eureka , the “Prose Poem” by which he hoped most ernestly to be remembered. Other items were first collected in the posthumous collection edited by Rufus Wilmot Griswold, incorporating some additional manuscript changes and other material. These collections are listed chronologically.

Eureka: A Prose Poem (1848 — EUREKA — there are several copies with annotations by Poe)
The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe , edited by Rufus Wilmot Griswold (1850, volume II: Poems and Miscellanies ; and 1856, volume IV: Pym, &c . — WORKS )

Later Collected Editions:

After Griswold's death in 1857, there were several alternate attempts to collect Poe's works, including a number of the essays and Eureka . The most important of these were collections edited by John H. Ingram, also in four volumes (initially published in 1874-1875), the ten-volume set edited by Edmund C. Stedman and George E. Woodberry (initially published in 1894-1895), and the seventeen-volume set edited by James A. Harrison (published in 1902). (Although at least one of these editions bears the title of The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe , none of them are, in fact, actually complete. In some instances, they also contain works that have since been identified as not being by Poe.)

The Works of Edgar Allan Poe , edited by John H. Ingram (Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1874-1875 — The essays are collected in volume 3)
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe , edited by Edmund C. Stedman and George E. Woodberry (Chicago: Stone and Kimball, 1894-1895 — The essays are collected in volume 7 and Eureka will be found in volume 9)
The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe , edited by James A. Harrison (New York: T. Y. Crowell, 1902 — The essays are collected in volume 14 and Eureka will be found in volume 16)

Modern Scholarly Editions:

The most widely recognized scholarly edition of Poe's tales and sketches, also including some of the essays, are the volumes edited by Thomas Ollive Mabbott, (published in 1978, nearly a decade after Mabbott's death), completed by his widow, Maureen Cobb Mabbott (and several assistants), with a few additional essays appearing in the volumes in the edition as continued by Burton R. Pollin. All of these volumes are thoroughly annotated, with introductory material, notes and variants. Two volumes originally prepared for this series, edited by Stuart and Susan Levine, were published separately by the University of Illinois Press.

The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe , edited by Thomas Ollive Mabbott (Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1978 — Volume 2: Tales and Sketches, 1831-1842 and Volume 3: Tales and Sketches, 1843-1849 )
The Collected Writings of Edgar Allan Poe , edited by Burton R. Pollin (New York: Gordian Press, 1986 and 1997 — Volume 3: Writings in the Broadway Journal, Text , Volume 4: Writings in the Broadway Journal, Annotations , and Volume 35 Writings in the Southern Literary Messenger, Text and Annotations
Eureka and Edgar Allan Poe: Critical Theory , edited by Stuart and Susan F. Levine (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2004 and 2009)

The Essays, Sketches and Lectures:

These items are arranged alphabetically by name. Within each name, entries are listed chronologically. Some of these items were not published under any specific title and most are, therefore, given here under a title deemed appropriately descriptive. The authorship of some items is a topic long researched and debated. Most of the items included here were signed, but for some, the attribution to Poe is necessarily the result of conjecture. A few prominent items that have been rejected are also listed, including a number of poems that were erroneously ascribed to Poe by T. O. Mabbott.

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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

“ American Novel-Writing ”
“ American Poetry ”
“ American Poetry ” (a lecture)
“ Anastatic Printing ”
“ Byron and Miss Chaworth ”
“ The Capitol at Washington ” (rejected)
“ A Chapter in the History of Vivum-Ovo ” (rejected)
“ Cryptography ” (alternate title for “Secret Writing”)
“ The Elk ” (later title of “Morning on the Wissahiccon”)
“ English Notes for Extensive Circulation ” (rejected)
“ Eureka ”
“ Exordium [to Critical Notices] ”
“ A Few Words on Etiquette ” (rejected)
“ Harpers Ferry ” (rejected)
“ House Furniture ” (alternate title for “The Philosophy of Furniture”)
“ Instinct Versus Reason — A Black Cat ”
“ Letter to B—— ”
“ Maelzel's Chess-Player ”
“ Magazine Writing — Peter Snook ” (alternate title of a review of “Peter Snook,” by James Dalton
“ Morning on the Wissahiccon ” (original title of “The Elk”)
“ Notes Upon English Verse ” (original title for “The Rationale of Verse”)
“ An Opinion on Dreams ” (rejected)
“ Our Magazine Literature ” (Possibly by Poe, but disputed)
“ Old English Poetry ” (Actually a later title assigned to Poe's review of Book of Gems by Samuel Carter Hall)
“ Palaestine ”
“ The Pay for American Authors ”
The Philosophy of Animal Magnetism (rejected)
“ The Philosophy of Composition ”
“ The Philosophy of Furniture ”
“ The Poetic Principle ”
“ Poets and Poetry of America ” (a lecture, also called “American Poetry”)
“ The Rationale of Verse ”
“ Secret Writing ”
“ Some Secrets of the Magazine Prison-House ”
“ Some Account of Stonehenge ”
“ Street-Paving ”

Related Material:

A chronological index (in preparation)
“ The Canon of Poe's Essays, Sketches & Lectures

Bibliography:

Brigham, Clarence S., Edgar Allan Poe's Contributions to Alexander's Weekly Messenger , Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society , April 1943. (Also reprinted separately.)
Edsall, Thomas, ed., The Poe Catalogue , Baltimore: The 19th Century Shop, 1992. (This catalogue includes a few reprints of material which are not noted elsewhere.)
Harrison, James A[lbert]., ed, The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe , 17 vols, New York: T. Crowell, 1902.
Heartman, Charles F. and James R. Canny, A Bilbiography of First Printings of the Writings of Edgar Allan Poe , Hattiesburg, MS: The Book Farm, 1943. (The best overall bibliography of Poe, although it does contain errors and is somewhat outdated.)
Levine, Stuart and Susan F., eds., Eureka , Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2004 (Poe's text, edited and with an introduction, notes and textual variants)
Levine, Stuart and Susan F., eds., Edgar Allan Poe: Critical Theory , Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2009 (Poe's texts, edited and with introductory material, notes and textual variants)
Mabbott, Thomas Ollive, ed., The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe ; (Vols 2-3 Tales and Sketches ), Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1978. (Second printing 1979)
Pollin, Burton R., ed., The Collected Writings of Edgar Allan Poe ; Vols. III & IV - The Broadway Journal: Non-Fictional Prose , New York: Gordian Press, 1986; Vol. V - The Southern Literary Messenger: Non-Fictional Prose , New York: Gordian Press, 1997.
Thompson, G. Richard, ed. , Essays and Reviews , New York: The Library of America, 1984. (A good basic collection.)
Vines, Lois D., ed., Poe Abroad: Influence, Reputation, Affinities , Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1999. (An extremely useful compendium of articles by various authors, divided by country or region.)
Woodberry, George E[dward]. and Stedman, Edmund Clarence, The Works of Edgar Allan Poe , 10 vols, Chicago, 1894-1895. (Reprinted in 1903 and 1914.)

[S:1 - JAS] - Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - Works - The Essays, Sketches and Lectures of Edgar Allan Poe

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Literary Genres

Edgar Allan Poe's “Alone”

Updated 18 July 2023

Subject Literary Genres

Downloads 58

Category Literature

Topic Edgar Allan Poe , Poetry , Literature Review

The Poem "Alone"

The poem "Alone" discusses Edgar Allan Poe's existence. It demonstrates how he led a sad existence that was different from others. He had experienced a lot of bad things throughout his existence. The word "alone" comes from his extreme loneliness.

Topic and Theme

The poem's topic and theme are primarily related to Poe's life. He lost a lot of very important individuals in his life when he was young, which affected him. He lost his mother first, then his adoptive mother. Due to the loss of these individuals, he lived a life that was distinct from that of other kids. It is reflected in the first two lines, where he indicates that since his childhood, he viewed matters differently from other people (Poe et al., 1982). His adopted father was also abusive which made his life more difficult. It is the reason why he is being compared to the devil in the last line of the poem. Poe could also be seeing himself as a devil because of how his life was different and the view he had about life. The theme, therefore, is that of loneliness.

Tone of the Poem

The tone of the poem "Alone" is somber. It talks about sorrowful things that happened in Poe's life. It discusses how he was alienated from the rest of people. It is reflected in lines six to ten. It shows how his life was sad and he could not even make his heart to rejoice, he clearly states that he could not make his heart joyful (Poe et al., 1982). Also the use of the words sorrow, torrent, loved alone and mystery have been used to depict this somber and sad tone.

The main image that the poem presents is loneliness and separation. Poe also uses images of nature to show things that contributed to how his life was, for instance, "the red cliff of the mountain" and "in its autumn tint of gold" (Poe et al., 1982), this shows what shaped Poe's life. These two images used to demonstrate the good things that happened in his life. Another image used in the description of the lighting in the sky which demonstrates the bad things that happened in his life.

Main Allusion

The main allusion that exists in the poem "Alone" is the allusion to heaven and demon which shows the good and bad things that happen in his life. The demon that prevented him from seeing the good things, heaven, is his adopted father who mistreats him causing his life to be a difficult one (Poe et al., 1982). The allusion used shows that things were not going the right way or not working for him because of this evil that spoiled everything.

Rhyme Scheme

The rhyme scheme for this poem is AABB. The rhymes rhyme and also there are sight rhymes. The main function of these rhymes is to help those who read the Poe's poem to read it how it should be read and also give it its general rhyme. The language used by Poe in the poem is simple. He uses everyday words to make it easier for those reading the poem to understand its meaning. Poe also uses repeated punctuation in order to put emphasis on what he had gone through. The use of repeated punctuation is seen in lines one and two and also in line seven. The repeated use of a hyphen helps the reader to have a deeper understanding of what the poet experienced.

Organization of the Poem

Lastly, Poe organized his poem in a descriptive form. He arranged it in this way in order to describe and bring out what he went through in his lonely life.

Poe, E. A., In Quinn, A. H., In O'Neill, E. H., & Kauffer, E. M. K. (1982). The complete poems and stories of Edgar Allan Poe: With selections from his critical writings. New York: A.A. Knopf.

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New York Today

When edgar allan poe lived, and loved, in the bronx.

The manuscript of Poe’s poem “For Annie,” written while he was living in a Bronx cottage after his wife’s death, is up for auction.

By James Barron

Good morning. It’s Tuesday. Today we’ll look at the manuscript of “For Annie,” a poem that Edgar Allan Poe wrote when he lived in a cottage in the Bronx. Annie was married, but that didn’t stop him. We’ll also look at a report that found “big gaps” in the way City Hall prepares for extreme weather.

Also, so you know: New York Today will focus on what’s going on in New York this week — aside from the trial of former President Donald Trump. We’ll summarize the developments in our Latest New York News section, and you can also sign up to receive our Trump on Trial newsletter .

A yellowed sheet of paper with faded handwriting sits on a dark wooden table next to candlesticks and a framed portrait.

“This is a very special moment,” Richard Austin said, leaning over a yellowed sheet of paper that had been placed on a writing desk — a now-faded original manuscript of a famous poem by Edgar Allan Poe, “For Annie.”

Austin, the head of books and manuscripts at Sotheby’s, was standing in a stark, white room at the Poe Cottage on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, where Poe lived when he wrote “For Annie.”

Sotheby’s expects the page to sell for $400,000 to $600,000 in June. That would have been an unimaginable sum for Poe, who was so poor when he lived in the cottage that his mother-in-law “resorted to digging up the turnips meant for the cattle,” one Poe biographer wrote. His wife’s mother, Maria Clemm, also gathered dandelions “and other greens” for salads.

Poe had moved there in 1846 with his ailing wife, Virginia, and Clemm. “The hope was that the country would improve Virginia’s health and her husband’s battered psyche,” Mark Dawidziak wrote in the 2023 biography “A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe.”

But Virginia died of tuberculosis in 1847 — the bed in which she died is in a little room beyond the one where the “For Annie” manuscript had been laid out. Austin said that the page with “For Annie” had not been back at the Poe Cottage since 1849, when Poe sent it off to an editor, hoping it would be published. (It was.)

Poe also wrote “The Bells,” “Eureka” and “Annabel Lee” while living in the cottage, which he had rented for $100 a year, or $8.33 a month. “The equivalent of $3,000 a year now,” said Roger McCormack, the director of education for the Bronx County Historical Society, which maintains the cottage.

It was “so neat, so poor, so unfurnished and yet so charming” when Poe lived there, one visitor wrote after stopping by. (McCormack said the cottage had been across the street when Poe lived in it. It was moved into what is now Poe Park in 1913 , according to the Department of Parks and Recreation.)

When the High Bridge opened in 1848, “it became a pacing and thinking place for Poe, who, day and night, might be spotted on the grass causeway” atop the structure, Dawidziak wrote.

He was aware of his “gloomy ‘Raven Man’ image,” Dawidziak wrote, but some found him surprisingly cheerful — “a very handsome and elegant-appearing gentleman,” according to Mary Bronson, who visited Poe in 1847. And he made friends with leaders of nearby St. John’s College, which had been founded a few years before and is now Fordham University. They “smoked, drank and played cards like gentlemen, and never said a word about religion.”

So who was Annie?

Her name was Nancy Richmond. She was married and lived in Massachusetts. She had met Poe when he gave a reading in Boston.

She was not the only woman Poe was infatuated with after his wife’s death. “Only his powerful involvement, later on, with Sarah Helen Whitman served to eclipse Mrs. Richmond,” one account noted. Whitman was a wealthy widow whose family worried that Poe was interested only in her money.

As if that were not complicated enough, when things cooled with Whitman, he pursued a widow he had known when they were children.

But he never really got over Annie. At one point he implored her to visit him at the cottage. “I feel I CANNOT live, unless I can feel your sweet, gentle, loving hand pressed upon my forehead,” he wrote.

Poe was proud of “For Annie.” “I think the lines for Annie much the best I have ever written,” he said. (As Austin pointed out, “If you’re trying to woo someone, you’re not going to say, ‘I’m not sending you my best.”)

But Poe also noted that “an author can seldom depend on his own estimate of his own works — so I wish to know what my Annie truly thinks of them.”

Richmond officially changed her first name to Annie after Poe died.

Look for a sunny day with temperatures in the low 60s and a light breeze. The evening will turn cooler and cloudy, with temperatures in the low 50s.

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What the lawyers said : A prosecutor, Matthew Colangelo, began by telling jurors that Trump had conspired with his former fixer, Michael Cohen, and David Pecker to conceal damaging stories during the 2016 campaign. Trump’s lead lawyer, Todd Blanche, said that Trump’s actions had been normal and legal.

If Trump testifies: Justice Juan Merchan ruled that prosecutors could ask Trump about previous cases that he had lost, as well as past violations of gag orders, if he testified.

No video allowed: New York courts generally do not permit video to be broadcast from courtrooms, so there will be no televised video feed from the trial . Nor will there be an audio feed, as some federal courts allow.

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Campus protests : Around the campus of Columbia University on Monday, a day of protests held under perfect blue skies just hours before the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover, the sentiment shared by nearly everyone was anger at the university’s president, Nemat Shafik .

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‘Big gaps’ in how City Hall handles emergency preparations

A report by the New York City comptroller’s office found “big gaps” in the way City Hall handles emergency preparations for extreme weather, like the storms that inundated New York City with more than eight inches of rain last September.

The report found that only 19 of the Department of Environmental Protection’s 51 specialized catch-basin cleaning trucks had been available — the other 32 were out of service. The trucks are a key part of the city’s toolbox for preventing floods.

The report also said the city’s communications with the public were lacking.

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While the city’s opt-in emergency alert system sent out notices, most New Yorkers do not subscribe to the flash-flood warnings: “Only 2.7 percent of New Yorkers over 16 years of age (185,895 people) received Notify NYC emergency alerts for the flash flood event on Sept. 29,” according to the report.

METROPOLITAN diary

Strawberry spill

Dear Diary:

I was biking across West 15th Street on my way home from the Union Square Greenmarket. I had a flat of ripe strawberries attached to the back of my bike with a bungee cord.

I was planning to make strawberry conserve for everyone who had helped me through my recent chemotherapy.

I didn’t notice the pothole until it was too late. Strawberries went flying, and I ran into the street to retrieve them.

The driver of a black S.U.V. behind me also hit the brakes, blocking traffic as I gathered up my errant berries. Then my bike tipped over, and quarts of strawberries sprayed across the pavement.

As I grabbed my helmet, a woman on the sidewalk offered to hold my bike steady while I scooped up the berries. She couldn’t stay long, she explained, because she was waiting for an air-conditioner to be delivered.

Just then, the air-conditioner man got out of his van on the other side of the street and came over to help. The S.U.V. driver continued to block traffic until all the berries were back in their boxes.

I thanked my strawberry Samaritans profusely and pedaled home, where I washed the berries and made eight cups of jam.

— Catherine Fredman

Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Send submissions here and read more Metropolitan Diary here .

Glad we could get together here. See you tomorrow. — J.B.

P.S. Here’s today’s Mini Crossword and Spelling Bee . You can find all our puzzles here .

Geordon Wollner, Dana Rubinstein and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at [email protected].

James Barron writes the New York Today newsletter, a morning roundup of what’s happening in the city. More about James Barron

COMMENTS

"Alone" by Edgar Allan Poe
My heart to joy at the same tone—. And all I lov'd— I lov'd alone—. Then —in my childhood—in the dawn. Of a most stormy life—was drawn. From ev'ry 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 roll'd.
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Alone
The narrator of the poem Alone is suggesting that he literally sees the world in a way that is quite different from other people. Thus you and he might look at the same picture, but what you see would be different. As a result, what you feel from looking at the picture will also be different. For an analysis of the poem Alone, this is a very ...
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Alone Summary & Analysis by Edgar Allan Poe

The Full Text of “Alone”

“Alone” Summary

Loneliness, Isolation, and Difference

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Alone”

Lines 13-16

Lines 17-19

Lines 20-22

“Alone” Symbols

“Alone” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

Anadiplosis

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Alone”

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A Short Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘Alone’

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Alone by Edgar Allan Poe: Complete and Detailed Analysis

Alone by Edgar Allan Poe

About the poem Alone by Edgar Allan Poe

Line by line analysis of the poem

Meaning and explanation of the poem

Literary devices

Quotes from the poem Alone

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Meanings of Alone

Meanings of Lines 1-8

Meanings of Lines 9-22

Summary of Alone

Analysis of Literary Devices in “Alone”

Analysis of Poetic Devices in “Alone”

Quotes to be Used

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Alone by Edgar Allan Poe, a poem analysis

Alone by Edgar Allan Poe: Summary

Alone by Edgar Allan Poe: Background

Alone by Edgar Allan Poe: Meter and Rhyme

Alone by Edgar Allan Poe: A Line by Line Analysis

Alone by Edgar Allan Poe: Analysis of Lines 1 to 3

Alone by Edgar Allan Poe: Analysis of Lines 3 and 4

Alone by Edgar Allan Poe: Analysis of Lines 5 to 6

Alone by Edgar Allan Poe: Analysis of Lines 9 to 12

Alone by Edgar Allan Poe: Analysis of Lines 13 to 22

Alone by Edgar Allan Poe: Meaning and Interpretation

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Edgar Allan Poe's “Alone”

The Poem "Alone"