Lyric Poem · Childhood
Alone
by Edgar Allan Poe · 1829
Reading of 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
Of a demon in my view —
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“Alone” by Edgar Allan Poe — quilloak.com/poems/alone
Quick facts
- Poem
- Alone
- Poet
- Edgar Allan Poe
- Published
- 1829
- Length
- 22 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem
- Themes
- Childhood, Sad, Life
Craft notes
How this poem works
Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.
- Shape
- 22 lines · 2 stanzas of 1–21 lines
- Line length
- Lines run 7-9 syllables (median 8), consistent with tetrameter. No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.
Want the rules this form is measured against? Read what makes a lyric poem, or run your own draft through the form checker to see the same measurements on your lines. How we measure · Report a mistake
Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the cited edition and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- Edgar Allan Poe1809–1849
- Source record
- WikisourceAlone by edgar-allan-poe, Wikisource transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- 1829
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 e0008575661ba51d…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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