Teaching Guide: Alone by Poe
Studen Lines
t
Volk From childhoods hour I have not been
As others wereI have not seen
As others sawI could not bring
My passions from a common spring
Sadie From the same source I have not taken
My sorrowI could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone
And all I lovdI lovd alone other people.
Celine Thenin my childhoodin the dawn
Of a most stormy lifewas drawn
From evry depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still
Mary From the torrent, or the fountain
From the red cliff of the mountain
From the sun that round me rolld
In its autumn tint of gold
Scott From the lightning in the sky
As it passd me flying by
From the thunder, and the storm
And the cloud that took the form
Group (When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view
Meaning
Poe is saying he is and has always been
different than others in that he doesnt
gain happiness from the common things
that most people enjoy.
Poe is saying that he also does not feel
sorrow for the same reasons other people
do. He did not share common loves with
Stormy implies tough childhood. Poe
explains that he still doesnt understand
why he feels differently about most things
than most people.
Inferring everywhere and all of the time.
Completes the thought from the previous
4 lines and talks about the ever illusive
mystery of why he feels differently.
The demon is the mystery of Poes alien
feelings. Its ever-present, even when life
is good (blue Heaven [blue skies]).