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.
- Edgar Allen Poe
How beautiful -- and haunting -- is this poem? I came across it while reading Nevermore by Kelly Creagh (review coming Friday) and have been unable to get it from my mind ever since. I dabbled in reading a few Poe stories in high school, and I am now intrigued by the man and his writings once again. This poem is so desperate with loneliness, yet full of beauty as well.
(I feel frivolous adding this last comment, but the scene in Nevermore when Varen reads this poem to Isobel is the most romantic scene I have ever read. I literally had butterflies to rival my first kiss when I read it.)
