Reflection: Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe creates many points of interest in the poem A Dream Within a Dream. His words make the reader consider his point of view and question what they once believed, which is what a great poem is meant to do. The short poem is a comparison between a beach and a dream. He says,"You are not wrong, who deem / That my days have been a dream" (Poe). It's easy to come to the conclusion that Poe looks at his life as a dream. This could represent how his memories are like dreams because they are not easily remembered. Edgar Allan Poe incorporates dreaming into several of his poems. Dreaming is a common way to use one's imagination, a trait of the Romanticism period's writings. Poe goes on to say, "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!" (Poe). His comparison of his dreams and the coastal sand is very well thought out. Both slip away from him. By using the ocean and the coast, both natural landscapes, in his writings, Poe shows yet another trait from the Rationalism period. Nature and exotic landscapes was used in most Romanticism pieces because of the imaginative factor that they add to stories. Comparing a losing one's memory of a dream in the same way that sand slips from one's fingers is an easily relatable idea. By giving the mental picture of sand, Edgar Allan Poe is using the sense of touch to really involve readers into his poem. Imagery is a great form of figurative language to use when it comes to trying to get your point across to readers. At the end of his poem, Poe asks, "Is all that we see or seem/But a dream within a dream?" (Poe). Poe's final question makes the reader really begin to wonder. As one ages, their memories fade and could eventually be gone forever. Similar to a dream, eventually many moments in life will not be remembered. It is possible that everyone is truly living a dream within a dream. One analysis of Romanticism writings describes Edgar Allan Poe as one of the "the major short story writers and novelists" for the period (Werlock). The piece also states, "Romanticism certainly can be distinguished from realism in that it seeks truth, or the ideal, by transcending the actual, whereas realism finds its values in the actual" (Werlock). Seeking truth is exactly what Edgar Allan Poe's poem A Dream within a Dream is looking for. With a number of questions, Poe is looking for answers. Isn't asking questions the number one way to find out the truth? Poe's question about whether your lives are reality of just simply dreams not only gets readers thinking, but also to inspire people to find the truth. Edgar Allan Poe was the first to observe the idea, so A Dream Within a Dream was his way of sharing his perspective.

Poe, Edgar Allan. "A Dream Within A Dream." Edgar Allan Poe, Short Stories, Tales, and Poems. Web. 18 Jan. 2012.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "Romanticism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.