A Dream Within A Dream is a poem by Edgar Allan Poe. The poem begins with the speaker declaring his love to a lady and the two lovers splitting apart. He kisses her and tells her that she is not wrong in saying that everything of his life has been a dream. In fact, before he leaves her, he says that everything he sees and seems is just a dream within a dream. In the next stanza, the speaker finds himself in another setting. He is now standing on a loud beach while he watches the golden grains of sand slip through his fingers. Then he cries out to God asking why he cannot even hold on to one grain of sand. The poem ends with the speaker asking whether everything he sees and seems is just a dream within a dream. The poem is written in English
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The speaker is saying goodbye to this girl but we do not know where he is going or why he is leaving. We know that, whatever it is, it is urgent because the line ends with an exclamation mark. In line 2 it becomes clear that the speaker is indeed going to leave this girl. In line 3 (“thus much let me avow—”) the word ‘avow’ suggests that the speaker wants to say something to her. He tells her that she was not wrong in saying that everything of his life was just a dream. This raises a question for the audience: Is the speaker really dreaming or has the time that the speaker has spent with the lady been like a dream? Besides these lines (4-5-6) contain alliteration: You are not wrong, who deem that my days have been a dream. The speaker himself is also questioning himself whether everything is real. The speaker then asks himself if there would be any difference if hope was gone. He is implying that no matter when hope would be gone, either during the day or at night, it would not have mattered because at the end of the day hope is still gone. Besides the day and night, he also asks if it would matter when it was in a vision or not. The word ‘vision’ here implies to ‘dream’. Thus, even if hope left him in a dream it still would not have mattered because hope is gone no matter what. The speaker’s departure from the woman is a metaphor for this painful realization. He is leaving the woman and therefore …show more content…
They both have different length. Stanza 1 has eleven lines and stanza 2 has thirteen lines. The rhyme scheme is as follows: AAABBCCDDEEFFGGHHHII. The poem has an iambic meter because after every stressed syllable there is an unstressed syllable. In line 1 for example: Take this kiss upon the brow! However, not every line measures up to the iambic meter. Poe uses an anapest: the line starts with two unstressed syllables and then follows the iambic meter. In line 2, for example, an anapest is used: And, in parting from you now. The reason Poe incorporated a few anapest was to avoid the poem from becoming boring. Also, the use of an anapest puts emphasis on certain words. In this case, the word ‘parting’ is being emphasized.
In conclusion, A Dream Within A Dream is a poem about how life passes us by so quickly. The audience are English-speaking poetry-readers above fifteen. Poe uses poetic communication to convey this sentiment. The themes of this poem are loneliness, loss and defeat. The mournful tone causes the audience to feel morose after reading it. Poe uses different stylistic devices, including metaphors, symbolism, personification and alliteration. The poem has an iambic meter. However, this meter sometimes gets disturbed by
The speaker is saying goodbye to this girl but we do not know where he is going or why he is leaving. We know that, whatever it is, it is urgent because the line ends with an exclamation mark. In line 2 it becomes clear that the speaker is indeed going to leave this girl. In line 3 (“thus much let me avow—”) the word ‘avow’ suggests that the speaker wants to say something to her. He tells her that she was not wrong in saying that everything of his life was just a dream. This raises a question for the audience: Is the speaker really dreaming or has the time that the speaker has spent with the lady been like a dream? Besides these lines (4-5-6) contain alliteration: You are not wrong, who deem that my days have been a dream. The speaker himself is also questioning himself whether everything is real. The speaker then asks himself if there would be any difference if hope was gone. He is implying that no matter when hope would be gone, either during the day or at night, it would not have mattered because at the end of the day hope is still gone. Besides the day and night, he also asks if it would matter when it was in a vision or not. The word ‘vision’ here implies to ‘dream’. Thus, even if hope left him in a dream it still would not have mattered because hope is gone no matter what. The speaker’s departure from the woman is a metaphor for this painful realization. He is leaving the woman and therefore …show more content…
They both have different length. Stanza 1 has eleven lines and stanza 2 has thirteen lines. The rhyme scheme is as follows: AAABBCCDDEEFFGGHHHII. The poem has an iambic meter because after every stressed syllable there is an unstressed syllable. In line 1 for example: Take this kiss upon the brow! However, not every line measures up to the iambic meter. Poe uses an anapest: the line starts with two unstressed syllables and then follows the iambic meter. In line 2, for example, an anapest is used: And, in parting from you now. The reason Poe incorporated a few anapest was to avoid the poem from becoming boring. Also, the use of an anapest puts emphasis on certain words. In this case, the word ‘parting’ is being emphasized.
In conclusion, A Dream Within A Dream is a poem about how life passes us by so quickly. The audience are English-speaking poetry-readers above fifteen. Poe uses poetic communication to convey this sentiment. The themes of this poem are loneliness, loss and defeat. The mournful tone causes the audience to feel morose after reading it. Poe uses different stylistic devices, including metaphors, symbolism, personification and alliteration. The poem has an iambic meter. However, this meter sometimes gets disturbed by