"Alone" is a 22-line poem, originally written in 1829 and left untitled and unpublished during Poe's lifetime. The original manuscript was signed "E. A. Poe" and dated March 17, 1829. In February of that year, Poe's foster mother Frances Allan had died. In September 1875, the poem, which had been in the possession of a family in Baltimore, was published with its title in Scribner's Monthly. The editor, E. L. Didier, also reproduced a facsimile of the manuscript, though he admitted he added the date himself. The poem is now often included in anthologies.

"Alone" is often interpreted as autobiographical, expressing the author's feelings of isolation and inner torment. Poet Daniel Hoffman believed "Alone" was evidence that "Poe really was a haunted man." The poem, however, is an introspective about Poe's youth, written when he was only 20 years old.

*Art by Edmund Dulac, music by Frederic Chopin (played by Vladimir Ashkenazy).

******

*This video and others I have made of Edgar Allan Poe's poetry are widely used for study purposes by teachers and students . The video is not intended as a copyright violation. The video is being monetized by the copyright holder and not me. (See Disclaimer Below).

FAIR USE ACT DISCLAIMER
This video is for educational purposes only.

Fair Use

Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research.

Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.

Fair Use Definition

Fair use is a doctrine in United States copyright law that allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders, such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, research, teaching or scholarship. It provides for the legal, non-licensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material in another author’s work under a four-factor balancing test.