Alone, I Cannot Be

Alone, I Cannot Be - meaning Summary

Invisible Companions Persist

The poem describes the speaker's experience of being accompanied by unseen, nameless visitors who bring company without leaving any record. These presences are likened to gnomes: they have no robes, names, or places, and resist classification. Their arrival is detectable only by inner signs, while their departure never seems to occur. In plain terms, the poem explores solitude complicated by persistent internal companions—memories, moods, or imaginings—that visit, affect the speaker, and remain part of her life even when unacknowledged by the external world.