Poe's poem "Alone" and the Nature of People

Passion, sorrow, joy, thunder, lightening, mystery and a demon shaped cloud. Natural things that everyone encounters some time or other. Only Edgar Allan Poe can combine all of them within a relatively short twenty two line poem entitled "Alone" and make them exciting in a gloomy sort of way. 

Spend a lot of your life alone? Do you consider yourself an introvert? Have you been that way since childhood? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, you should be able to relate to the speaker in this poem. Having spent a good part of my childhood alone and also large chunks of adulthood, I relate especially to the first part of the poem where the speaker believes that he's different than everyone else. He doesn't see things the way others see things, he doesn't feel joy at the same level as others, and he loves things that no one else loves.

 Loners often feel this disconnect from the rest of the world as though they don't fit in. I always felt this way until later in life after gaining a lot of experience being around people I realized that it isn't true. Yes, there are some real weirdos out there, but most people have different opinions, perspectives and beliefs and it's just normal and "nature-al".  Everyone is an aspect of nature just like the weather, the sun and the mountains. Once you're around people for a while you realize, for the most part, they are basically the same and have similar needs and desires. 

Although I enjoy a lot of alone time, solitude, peace and quiet, it's sometimes a nice respite to be around people and listen to them instead of the loud chattering of my mind. But then again all you need is one toxic person to obstruct your view of a beautiful blue Heaven with a cloud shaped like a demon.