Tuesday, April 19, 2011

"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 loved, I loved alone.
Then- 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 rolled
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.

--Edgar Allan Poe

"Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction.[1] He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.[2] "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe

4 comments:

kkdither said...

I love the work of Edgar Allen Poe. He was my first love of "dark" writing: so clever, so twisted. What is better than the guilt and self torture unfolded in The Tell Tale Heart? How about the evils of greed, vanity and jealousy from The Cask of Amontillado? Gruesome ways to teach life's lessons.

If you don't remember, or never had the chance to listen closely to the words, you should revisit the music of Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Alan Parson's Project. Such fun!

drewzepmeister said...

kk, I've got that album, though I haven't heard it in years.

kkdither said...

Drew, I pull mine out from time to time. It is a great album.

Another fun one is Mer de Noms by A Perfect Circle. (APC) Based on the play, Orestes, by Euripides, he kills his mother because she conspires with his now step dad who he learns killed his father. This is a fabulous album/cd... especially the song, Thinking of You.

drewzepmeister said...

The copy I've got of Mer de Noms came from you, kk. Thanks again! I didn't know that the album concept came from a play. The things we learn each day!