Edgar Allan Poe is known for his modern detective stories as well as his works in the science fiction genre. This versatile writer’s collective works include “The Tell-Tale Heart,” and “The Raven”. He also wrote a textbook, a book of scientific theory, and many short stories (Poe’s Biography). Poe’s popularity today is primarily due to his frightening lyrical poetry. A personal favorite short poem of mine is “Alone”. While Poe wrote this poem in the autograph album of Lucy Holmes (A collection of poems and drawings from Lucy Holmes friends), it was not printed until after Poe’s death. It was originally published by E. L. Didier in Scribner’s Monthly for September of 1875. This copy by Didier included both a title and date that were not given in the original manuscript. Despite doubts of authenticity, the poem is now widely seen as one of Poe’s most personal pieces (Poe’s Biography). This poem is told in the first-person point of view. The speaker looks back on his childhood and realizes that his isolation and loneliness separated him from other children. The seclusion from his past also has a great impact on him as an adult. Much of Poe’s work has an autobiographical tone to it, and ‘Alone’ is no exception.
In “Alone,” Poe’s use of form and meter sets the melancholy tone. The personification and symbolism used allow him to clearly convey the theme of loneliness. This poem consists of twenty-two lines made from eleven rhyming couplets. The meter in “Alone” varies enough to create a subtle impact on each line. The poem starts in iambic pentameter if the reader gives “child” and “hour” two syllables. After the first line, Poe shifts the meter to iambic tetrameter. Then the pace shifts in lines thirteen to seventeen into trochaic tetrameter. While lines twenty and twenty-two are still in iambic tetrameter, they are catalectic, meaning that these lines are lacking a syllable at the end of the foot. The shift in meter in the last two lines makes the poem much more dramatic (Alone by Edgar Allan Poe Meter and Rhyme). The first twelve lines describe the narrator’s attitude, but then from line thirteen, the speaker begins to describe external elements. As the speaker’s descriptions change so does the tone.
The reader is unsure what is being described until the last two lines, and when the actual revelation takes place, the last beat of each line is dropped, allowing for a dramatic flair in the ending (Alone by Edgar Allan Poe). In the first half of the poem, meter is used to give a personable, narrative feel, whereas the second half uses the meter to build suspense, only to release it in the last two lines. The author of this poem is no stranger to loneliness and isolation, which can be seen through many of his literary works. For as long as he can remember, the speaker has always seen himself as an outsider. He has opinions, perspectives, etc. that are not shared with his peers. The symbolism included in this poem clearly conveys this idea. In most poems and literary works, water symbolizes life or purification. There’s an early reference in the poem to a ‘spring,’ that is later followed by a ‘fountain.” These terms are used to symbolize life, but specifically the lives of the common people. These early water references create contrast with how the speaker describes his own life. For example, “Of a most stormy life—was drawn”(10).
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‘Stormy life’ is another symbol for the speaker’s rough and difficult past. The reader is expected to visualize harsh rain: the downpour of destruction. Like water, the sky is another symbol that clearly conveys the theme. Thunder, clouds, the color blue, like in line 21, “When the rest of Heaven was blue,” his poem is stocked with things that make us think of the sky and the heavens. This may seem odd considering this poem is about disconnection and isolation. The speaker looking to the sky represents his longing to find meaning elsewhere. As the speaker describes feelings of alienation and difference, he then looks towards the sky because he doesn’t feel a connection with anyone with him on earth. The last few lines of the poem state, “And the cloud that took the form / (When the rest of Heaven was blue) / Of a demon in my view” (20-22). The cloud the speaker sees isn’t just any ordinary cloud. In his eyes, it takes the form of a demon. This suggests that all is not right with the speaker, but also reflects his own unique view of the world. Despite everything, the speaker has a strong desire for love but is forced to settle with loneliness. This is demonstrated in line 8, ‘I alone am the one who loves’.
Throughout the poem, Poe is showing the reader different aspects of his life, whether it be his family, friendship or love. Poe’s use of personification is the final literary device that really accentuates the theme. “From every depth of good and ill / The mystery which binds me still” (10-11). From every level of good and bad, the mystery of Poe’s loneliness remains unsolved. Poe continues to feel despair and loneliness, and nothing will change his emotions. Poe uses the personification to make the point that he cannot escape his isolation and differences. Another example includes, “From the red cliff of the mountain / From the sun that ’round me roll’d / In its autumn tint of gold”(13-15). What is thought of as being beautiful to most is seen differently through the eyes of the speaker. Poe uses this personification of the sun “rolling” the narrator around to represent the differences the speaker feels between himself and his peers. This representation enhances the speaker’s sense of loneliness and isolation by depicting his lack of compatibility with people. This representation occurs because the sun seems to be overpowering the speaker, whereas the sun is seen as a warm, happy entity.
In “Alone”, he describes being outcasted as a boy, and this isolation has altered his life and ideations. This feeling of detachment from the world stemmed from his lack of interest in things others enjoyed. Things like lightning, mountains, clouds etc. Poe is drawn away from the natural beauty of these things by the ‘demon’ in his view. In “Alone,” Edgar Allan Poe describes an interpretation of a cloud he sees. 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. (19-22)The demon could be interpreted in many ways. It is likely this demon represent his deep loneliness and atypical views of the world. This poem allows the reader to see into the great mind of Edgar Allan Poe. While Poe’s oeuvre is exquisite and appreciated by many, he has always been seen as different. His narrations have alienated him due to the darkness they possess. “Alone” describes Poe’s constant feeling of loneliness and is expressed through the meter, symbolism, and personification.
