Edgar Allan Poe
Intro to Literature 220, Spring 2016, Anthony Plumb
About Edgar Allan Poe
John Allan became one of the richest men in Virginia but never fully adopted Poe. Poe figured that he would be named Allan's heir and inherit his estate. Allan eventually became cold towards Poe. At the age of 17 Poe was accepted into the University of Virginia but began owing money which caused him to start gambling placing him further into debt. By the end of his first year of college he owed over 2,500 dollars, and began to drink ("Edgar Allan Poe."). Allan later withdrew Poe from school. A few months later, Poe left home and enlisted in the army under the name Edgar A. Perry
He spent two years in the Army and rose to the rank of Regimental Sergeant Major ("Biography of Edgar Allan Poe."). He wanted to become an officer and with Allan's help he applied to the United States Military Academy at West Point New York. He was sworn in as a West Point cadet on July 1, 1830,("Biography of Edgar Allan Poe."). Poe hated the discipline and the restraint of the school and started to skip his classes and avoid his duties. He was expelled after only eight months.
In 1833 he had his first writing success. His short story "MS. Found in a Bottle" earned him 50 dollars. Then in 1835 he married his 13 year old cousin Virginia; they never had any children ("Poe's Life.").
From 1837 to 1842 he tried many different things to earn money. He was an editor and a free-lance writer during this time, however although his short stories and poems were read, he was paid very little for writing them. The stresses were dragging him into depression, then his wife contracted tuberculosis and died on January 30, 1847, which made him even more depressed ("Edgar Allan Poe.").
Poe tried to move on and find another woman. He found his childhood sweetheart who was now a rich widow. They had finished making wedding plans and he headed to New York City to make final preparations when he disappeared in Baltimore. He died nine days later on October 7 1849, having spent four days in the hospital never regaining consciousness ("Poe's Life."). There has been no proven theory about how Poe had died, some say that it was from alcohol poisoning, others say it was from a tumor, or even rabies. He was buried in Baltimore at only 40 years of age ("Edgar Allan Poe: The Dark Romanticist.").
Writing Style
During the time that Edgar Allan Poe was writing poetry it was the age of Romanticism and the Romantic Era of Poetry. Poe fits very well into this timeframe. The Romantics focused on personal experience and imagination in their work, also they usually had an emotional aspect to most of their poetry. When Poe writes his poetry it usually had a mysterious or unrealistic aspect which further connects him to the Romantic Era of poetry. Even his use of vagueness and lack of detail tie in with some other romantic poets, as well as keeping the reader interested and asking questions ("Edgar Allan Poe: The Dark Romanticist.").
Each poet has their own particular style when it comes to writing. Edgar Allan Poe's style of writing was usually dark containing death, suffering, or sometimes both. He may have gotten these dark, depressed thoughts from his own personal life due to all the death around him, such as his mother and his wife. He was frequently depressed and even suicidal at times. Poe was an alcoholic and some say that he used drugs on occasion. Most of his stories and poems are considered very gothic. Some examples of his dark writings include "The Raven," "The Cask of Amontillado," "The Tell-Tale Heart," and "The Pit and the Pendulum." In "The Pit and the Pendulum" a man is trapped inside a circular room with no way to escape. This is a very dark poem because every time the man thinks that he is free and that he won't be killed something else happens that proves him wrong. First he almost falls to his death into a deep pit, then he is tied up as a razor sharp pendulum slowly comes down to slice him in half. Once he escapes the ropes, the walls come closing in around him and he is almost forced into the pit. At last he is rescued. This story is a great example of the dark writing style Poe uses not only because of the hopelessness that the man faces, but also the cruel way that he is supposed to die.
Poe also uses symbolism a lot in his writings. This allows for a wider interpretation of the poetry. In his poem "The Raven," the raven symbolizes death. The inability to escape death is symbolized by the raven not leaving his perch on the bust. In several of his writings Poe also uses mythology to draw the reader into a deeper understanding of what he is saying.
Nathanial Hawthorne is another writer that had much of the same writing style and techniques as Poe ("Compare and Contrast). They both were considered Dark Romantics. Both Poe and Hawthorne have gothic ideas about humanity ("Compare and Contrast). Hawthorne wrote about the soul and sin in some of his writings, although Hawthorne enjoyed his life unlike Poe who was often depressed.
The Poem
A Dream Within a Dream
By: 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?
Poem Analysis
Poe begins the poem by offering someone a kiss on the brow which makes me think that he is saying goodbye to someone. Thinking back on his history it seems like he is giving his wife a goodbye kiss as she is lying in the casket. It is easy to see that Poe really cares about whomever the person is that he is saying goodbye to since he chooses to use a exclamation point.
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow-
you are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
The next couple of lines the speaker is avowing or confessing to the person he is parting from that they were right in saying that his entire life has been a dream. In these lines the speaker is wondering if everything that has happened to him was real or if he just dreamt all of it. His life shows us that he is questioning if all the bad things that are happening to him are real or if he is in one long nightmare that he can never wake up from.
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?
Poe continues his poem with a question asking if he lost his hope in a dream or vision and would hope be there when he awakes from the dream or would it still be gone when he wakes up. This is a really deep aspect of his poetry because he is asking that if he lost hope in a dream would he have lost hope in his actual life. This made me wonder if he is right since there are some times when people remember their dreams clearly. If losing hope in a dream would impact his hope in the real world, this would throw him into depression. Poe uses personification saying that "hope has flown away" giving hope human characteristics.
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
This next couplet has the speaker saying that nothing is actually reality and everything not only is a dream, but a dream within a dream. In dreams, there are things that happen that no matter how hard the dreamer tries to stop, will still happen. If it is truly a dream within a dream, Poe is saying that there is nothing in his life that he can control, such as his mother's death, his wife's death, and him going into debt. Poe also uses assonance when he uses the words see and seem. This use of assonance makes the poem more interesting to the reader.
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand —
During the change in stanzas Poe changes the setting to a beach where he listens to the waves crashing against the sands. These four lines are full of details that give the reader a deeper understanding of the poem. He calls the sands surf-tormented which gives a gothic sounding theme. The "surf tormented shore" could also be a metaphor for his life and how he has been tormented by all the bad things that have happened to him. He then grabs a handful of golden sand. When Poe uses the word golden it makes me think that the sand is somehow precious to him as he gives it a positive description in contrast to the negative description of the "surf tormented shore."
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep — while I weep!
These lines are referring back to the sand, but now he gives the sand a deeper meaning. He uses the sand to symbolize the good or happy times in his life and how they slowly creep away. Since he wasn't very happy during his life these lines make sense because he loses his happy times to the "deep" which means that he may never get them back. When he repeats the words "While I weep" it shows that he is losing all of his happiness and there is nothing that he can do to stop it since he is in a dream within a dream.
O God! Can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
He is trying to clutch on to the happy moments that he still possesses without much success. These lines made me think that he is trying to hold on to all of the loved ones that he has lost but cannot. He wonders if he can save at least one person or happy memory from the "pitiless wave." Poe could be using the wave as a symbol for death since death has no remorse and does not take pity on him even though he has already lost so many loved ones. The first and the third lines in this group are almost identical except for one word. Poe uses this to emphasize how many times he has tried to hang on to the good things in his life, and how many times he has failed.
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?
Poe ends the poem much like he ended the first stanza. the only difference is he restated the last lines as a question instead of a statement. He could be trying to make the reader answer the question for themselves in their own personal lives. He could also be asking if some things in life are real, hoping that some things aren't just an illusion and that they are able to be changed.
This poem has no consistent meter. Its rhyme scheme is aaabbccddee ffgghhhiijjkk with the first stanza containing one triplet and four couplets and the second stanza containing two couplets, a triplet, followed by three more couplets.
Critics Analysis of the Poem
Reflection
What I Learned
Works Cited
"Analysis of “A Dream within a Dream” by Edgar Allan Poe." Student Bounty. Student Bounty, 7 Apr. 2015. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.
"Biography of Edgar Allan Poe." A Short Biography of Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849). Poe Stories: An Exploration of Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe, 2005. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.
"Compare and Contrast the Works of Hawthorne and Poe. - Homework Help - ENotes.com." Enotes.com. Enotes.com, 28 June 2012. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.
"Edgar Allan Poe." Britannica School. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2016. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.
Edgar Allan Poe. N.d. Edgar Allan Poe Biographical Notes. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.
"Edgar Allan Poe: The Dark Romanticist." Edgar Allan Poe. The American Romantic Movement, n.d. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.
"Poe's Life." Poe's Life. Poe Museum, 2014. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.
Ultima Thule. 1848. Edgar Allan Poe. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.
*Note Smore will not allow tabbed second lines