A Dream within A Dream by Edgar Allan Poe

A Dream within A Dream (published in the March 31, 1849)

By Edgar Allan Poe, 1809 – 1849

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!

God! can I not grasp

Them with a tighter clasp?

God! can I not save

One from the pitiless wave?

Is all that we see or seem

But a dream within a dream?

Analysis:

This poem is about the man who is parting with someone that he really loves and need. He doesn’t believe that was happen and he thinks that was a dream. This poem question the way one can differentiate between fantasy and reality.

·         Line: Twenty four lines

·         Stanza:  Two stanza

·         Rhyme:

The rhyme of the first stanza is AAABBCCDDEE

The second stanza is AABBCCCDDEEFF

·         Internal rhymes:

Is but a dream within a dream (line 11)

But a dream within a dream (line 24)

·         Type of poem:

 Lyrical poem, the characteristics of lyrical poem also exist in this poem.

·         Imagery:

And I hold within my hand Grains of the golden sand (line 14-15)

·         Refrain:          

We see or seem (line 10 and line 23)

A dream within a dream (line 11 and line 24)

·         Alliteration:

We see or seem (line 10 and line 23)

A dream within a dream (line 11 and line 24)

Grains of the golden sand (line 15)

·         Metaphor:

A surf-tormented shore (line 13)

One from the pitiless wave? (Line 22)

·         Tone: Sad

·         Personification:

How few! Yet how they creep (line 16)