Purely because I like the name, today I am looking at the poetry of Edgar Allen Poe. He was writing in the mid 19th century, often using the theme of nature and dreams, probably due to the influences of the Tracendentalist movement, which encouraged scepticism of religion and focus on philosophical thought instead, with focusing on nature acting as a grounding technique. Here, we see Poe has reflected upon a child's version of soul-searching and seeing the greater picture of the world.
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 --
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 --
Perhaps in this poem we are witnessing the moment that the child moves from the Ego phase of life (Freud's work will explain this, I know little about it), when they view themselves as the centre of life and do not yet have Theory of Mind, at which point they can see the world from others' perspectives and feel a keen sense of sympathy and empathy when necessary. Evidence for this reading is found in the ego-like line 'From the sun that 'round me roll'd' moving to a more removed and unimportant standing in the lightning passing him 'flying by', as if there were more pressing matters to attend to than the boy.
However, the child is still very much just that: a child. He sees a cloud and his active imagination claims it looks like a 'demon'. This childhood memory has stayed with the narrator and so is used metaphorically to convey how his mind does not work in the same way as others, because he always feels the presence of his own inner demons. The pathetic fallacy of the 'thunder' and 'storm' gives the effect of causing the reader to feel less safe, most likely imagining their own similar childhood fear.
Moreover, by calling the moment he sees the cloud the 'dawn' of his 'most stormy life', a sorrowful, depressing tone is given to the poem, because even if an adult's life is unhappy, one would wish that the childhood had been worthwhile. But it appears that the narrator was doomed to a depressive state from the start of his 'id' phase. Perhaps Poe is showing some of the flaws of thinking too philosophically, as the Tracendentalist movement would prefer, as it can have too great an impact on one's psychological state.
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 --
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 --
Perhaps in this poem we are witnessing the moment that the child moves from the Ego phase of life (Freud's work will explain this, I know little about it), when they view themselves as the centre of life and do not yet have Theory of Mind, at which point they can see the world from others' perspectives and feel a keen sense of sympathy and empathy when necessary. Evidence for this reading is found in the ego-like line 'From the sun that 'round me roll'd' moving to a more removed and unimportant standing in the lightning passing him 'flying by', as if there were more pressing matters to attend to than the boy.
However, the child is still very much just that: a child. He sees a cloud and his active imagination claims it looks like a 'demon'. This childhood memory has stayed with the narrator and so is used metaphorically to convey how his mind does not work in the same way as others, because he always feels the presence of his own inner demons. The pathetic fallacy of the 'thunder' and 'storm' gives the effect of causing the reader to feel less safe, most likely imagining their own similar childhood fear.
Moreover, by calling the moment he sees the cloud the 'dawn' of his 'most stormy life', a sorrowful, depressing tone is given to the poem, because even if an adult's life is unhappy, one would wish that the childhood had been worthwhile. But it appears that the narrator was doomed to a depressive state from the start of his 'id' phase. Perhaps Poe is showing some of the flaws of thinking too philosophically, as the Tracendentalist movement would prefer, as it can have too great an impact on one's psychological state.
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