A Dream Within a Dream

A Dream Within A Dream
Edgar Allan Poe


Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow-
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand-
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep- while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

Edgar Allan Poe is a prominent 19th century American poet. "A Dream Within A Dream" was one of a number of poems written by him in 1849, the last year of his life. This poem speaks of anger, loss, depression, frustration, disappointment, and unfulfilled desires. In this poem, Poe asks many rhetorical questions, showing that he no longer expects or needs the answers. This poem ties in with my theme as it speaks about Poe being trapped within his own frustration and depression. He is stuck in a manic cycle of rhetorical questions and cannot seem to find any answers, only more problems. This poem of two stanzas is full of despair and can almost be read as an epitaph. This also reflects Poe's feelings about his life at the time accentuating the important things in his life that are slipping away. He questions the "reality" of life and the realization that he is unable to hold onto one grain of sand leads him to believe that all things are a dream. This poem is written in two stanzas, with 24 lines in total and is a narrative written in loose iambic tetrameter. It uses rhetorical questions to emphasize the fact that life is a question, illusion and meaningless, as well as similes, metaphors (such as the grains of sand which represent his loved ones and the ocean which represents infinity) and descriptive adjectives to create a gloomy and sad aura. I personally love this poem because it is so lyrical, descriptive and personifies Poe's mood and the uncertainty and loss of life. Edgar Allan Poe is a great example of an American poet and this poem is one of his greatest works. This is a metaphor for grief. Poe lost his mother, his step mother, his wife and probably others that meant much to him.