Author: Edgar Allan Poe

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From childhoods 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,
Thou,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 rolld
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.

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Type of Poem: Lyric Poem

Date Written:

Date Published:

Language: English

Keywords: Public Domain

Source: Public Domain Collection

Publisher:

Rights/Permissions: Public Domain

Comments/Notes: This poem presents a compelling exploration of individuality, solitude, and the complex relationship between the self and nature. Its tone is introspective and somewhat melancholic, echoing the speaker’s sense of alienation from both society and their own emotions. The first half of the poem emphasizes the speaker's distinctiveness from others, particularly in their emotional experiences, which are drawn from a source entirely unique to them. The repetition of "I have not" underscores the speaker's separation from the common human experience.

The second half of the poem then shifts to the speaker's relationship with nature—defining it as a source of both "good and ill." The speaker's solitude is mirrored in their intimate, if tumultuous, bond with the natural world. The imagery used to portray this connection is striking, with the speaker drawing on powerful forces such as the "torrent," "lightning," "thunder," and "storm." Nature here is not just a backdrop, but an active player, reflecting and intensifying the speaker's feelings of isolation. The final lines, in which the speaker sees a "demon" in a solitary cloud against a blue sky, encapsulate the poem's exploration of solitude. In its structure and content, the poem presents a profound meditation on the nature of individual experience, and the ways in which it can both separate and connect us with the world around us.