Poetry Essay

Edgar Allan Poe's "Alone" is a reflection of who Poe was as a person.  It is a condensed outpouring of emotion designed to express to the reader feelings that would otherwise be impossible to understand.  The power of poetry is its ability to express emotion more so than simple speech.   Derek Mahon's "Everything is Going to be Alright" is another emotional outcry, albeit very different than Poe's.

While "Alone" is more negative and gloomy,  "Everything is Going to be Alright" is hopeful and upbeat.  Mahon's poem isn't so much an expression of his own emotion but a hopeful look towards the future.  "How should I not be glad to contemplate the clouds clearing beyond the dormer window and a high tide reflected on the ceiling?" Mahon asks.  Why pass up an opportunity to enjoy the little things?

Poe suffered through depression and other mental illness his entire life, and "Alone" is a physical representation of that.  "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."  Poe highlights how different he feels from others mentally; his depression has cut him off from the "Everything is Going to be Alright" members of society.

"There will be dying, there will be dying,
but there is no need to go into that," Mahon says in his poem.  Try as he might,  Poe can't help but go into that and focus on the negative things.
"And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view."
This cloud represents Poe's depression.  Though the rest of the sky is blue, his vision is focused on the demon-shaped cloud.   It blocks the rest of his vision and locks him on a path that he can't get off of.

In some ways, "Alone" and "Everything is Going to be Alright" are polar opposites,  but in other ways they are very similar.  Both are expressions of thoughts and feelings, but "Alone" is negative while "Everything is Going to be Alright" is positive and upbeat.