Alone (Poe) Man and the Natural World Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Line)

Quote #1

I could not bring
My passions from a common spring (3-4)

"Spring" here refers to a natural body of water. The connection between nature and human passions is something the poem develops later, especially when the speaker talks about the "mystery" he can access via mountains and fountains and torrents.

Quote #2

Then- in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life- was drawn (9-10)

The rhyme on "dawn" and "drawn" is totally cool here. Dawn makes us think of new beginnings, and we know "drawn" goes with mystery. In a way, then, the mystery that the speaker is about to describe is like the sunshine that shows up later. It's the beginning of a new era.

Quote #3

From the sun that round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold, (15-16)

Sun and gold—those are pretty positive things. Gold makes us think of money and riches, whereas we associate the sun with warmth and life. The natural world here seems like a comforting, nurturing presence that enwraps the speaker.