ABSTRACT

This research paper analyzes Edgar Allan Poe’s short poem entitled “A Dream Within
A Dream”. The purpose of this paper is to analyze intrinsic elements found in the
poem. I used intrinsic and close-reading method to analyze the poem. From the
analysis, I found out that the poem comprises diction and musical devices. I
therefore conclude that the combination of diction and the musical devices add
flavor on Poe’s poem. It also supports us to understand the author’s message and
intention in writing this poem.

INTRODUCTION

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most celebrated American authors of all time.
His works are considered to be universal and timeless because of his diction, style,
and controversial themes. He is known for sketching out supernatural scenes by
featuring death or violence.

Poe published his short poem “A Dream Within A Dream” in 1849 and similar to
many of his other poems, the narrator of “A Dream Within A Dream” is suffering
from observational crisis like frustration, depression and isolation. The poem was
published near Poe’s death. He wrote the poem when his alcoholism was believed to
be affecting his health.

The poem deals most specifically with the turbulent idea that reality is temporary
and nothing more than a dream.

LITERARY REVIEW

Diction

Diction concerns the “choice of words” for the expression of idea. As a general rule,
diction should be clear, correct and effective because the success in the use of any
language depend upon the choice of words and the way in which you make your
words enter into certain combinations in your speech and writing.

The diction or the choice of words of Edgar Allan Poe on his short poem A Dream
Within A Dream emphasizes the emotion of the poem. The word ‘tormented’ in line
no. 13 and ‘pitiless’ in line no. 22 gave a hint that the author is feeling down,
helpless and in deep pain. The word ‘weep’ in line no. 18 was being repeated and it
only indicates that the narrator shows distress. The use of ‘O God’ on lines no. 19
and 21 reveal the urgency of God’s presence in his life. The narrator is questioning
the reality.
Literary Device

Symbolism

“O God! can I not grasp

Them with a tighter clasp?

O God! can I not save

One from the pitiless wave?”

It symbolizes that we cannot save our love ones no matter how hard we try because
only God knows our faith and destiny. It can also reflect on Poe’s tragic life when the
most important person in his life died; her mother and his cousin and wife Virginia.

METHODOLOGY

In this research paper, I analyzed Edgar Allan Poe’s short poem “A Dream Within A
Dream”. In analyzing the poem, I used close-reading method. I found out that the
Levels of Language (graphology, phonology, morphology, semantics and
pragmatics), Figures of Speech (repetition, alliteration, personification), Poetic
Devices like rhyme scheme, rhythm pattern, tone, setting and Symbolism are
present in the poem.

ANALYSIS

Levels of Language

Graphology

 Edgar Allan Poe’s short poem consist only two stanzas with 24 lines. The first
stanza has 11 lines while the second stanza composed of 13 lines.
 Poe used a lot of punctuation marks that simply indicates strong emotion.
 The language used in the short poem is pretty simple and direct to the point
and so are the lines.
 The use of title within a poem in lines 11 and 24.

Phonology

 Both stanzas consist of full rhymes. The first stanza has the scheme of
aaabbccddbb and the second has aabbcccddeeff.
On lines 1, 2 and 3 the /aw/ sound is visible in the words ‘brow, now and
avow’
On lines 4 and 5 there is a /m/ sound in the words ‘deem and dream’
On lines 6 and 7, the /y/ sound in words ‘away and day’
 On lines 8 and 9, the /n/ sound in words ‘none and gone’

On lines 10 and 11, the /m/ sound in words ‘seem and dream’
On lines 12 and 13, the /r/ sound in words ‘roar and shore’
On lines 14 and 15, the /d/ sound in words ‘hand and sand’
On lines 16, 17 and 18 there is a /p/ sound in words ‘creep, deep and weep’
On lines 19 and 20, the /p/ sound in words ‘grasp and clasp’
On lines 21 and 22, the /v/ sound in words ‘save and wave’
On lines 23 and 24, the /m/ sound in words ‘seem and dream’

 There are alliterations or the repetition of initial consonant sound.

On lines 4 and 5: deem, days and dream
On line 6: hope and has
On line 10 and 23: see and seem
On line 11 and 24: dream and dream
On line 14: hold and hand
On line 15: grains and golden
On line 18: while, weep, while and weep

Morphology

 The word surf-tormented on line no. 13 has three constituents: two root
morphemes (‘surf’ and ‘torment’) and a suffix ( the past participle morpheme
‘ed’), making the word a three morpheme cluster.

Semantics

 On lines no. 12 and 13:

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore

It only shows that the setting of the poem or the author is writing this poem when
he is near the ocean or coast.

Pragmatics

 On lines no. 11 and 24:

Is but a dream within a dream.
But a dream within a dream

Is the author trying to say that “is life but a dream”? That the reality is temporary
and nothing more than just a dream?
Figures of Speech

Repetition

 On lines 7 and 8:
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision or in none,
 On lines 19 and 21:
O God! Can I not grasp
O God! Can I not save

Hyperbole

 On lines 10 and 11
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream

Not literally what we all see or experience is only just a dream.

 On line no. 15
Grains of the golden sand

It is obviously exaggerated because there is no golden sand.

Personification

 On line no. 6:
Yet if hope has flown away

Hope cannot literary fly. It only means the disappearing of hope or the author was
being hopeless.

DISCUSSION

Poetic Devices

Rhythm Pattern

 The short poem has an iambic rhythm. It is visible on lines 7 and 8:

In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,

The word ‘in’ in the beginning of both first and second line tries to stress by the
author.

 On lines 19 and 21:

O God! Can I not grasp
O God! Can I not save
The repletion of the word ‘God’ emphasizes that the author is believing and hoping
for God’s presence.

Rhyme Scheme

 The poem has an End rhyme because the rhyming of the poem is usually
placed at the end of the line.
 The poem has nine couplets and two triplets.

Example of couplet in the poem:

Is all that we see or seem

But a dream within a dream?

Example of triplet in the poem:

How few! Yet how they creep

Through my fingers to the deep,

While I weep – while I weep!

Setting

The setting of the poem is in the shore.

On the lines:

Of a surf-tormented shore

Grains of the golden sand

One from the pitiless wave

Tone

 On the first stanza, lines no. 4 and 5

You are not wrong who deem
That my days have been a dream

The tone is acceptance that the author accept the fact that reality and dream are
different and that he is living in a dream world.

 There is a shift of tone in the second stanza on lines 12 and 13

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore

The tone is pain and frustration because of “tormented” and “pitiless” words from
lines 13 and 22.
 FINDINGS

Edgar Allan Poe’s life was really unfortunate and his literary works are mostly
inspired to be tragic, deep and emotional theme. At the age of three, he lost his
mother and was separated from his siblings when he was young. Elmira Royster his
fiancé was engaged to another man while they are engaged. Frances Allan, who had
been his second mother died before he could return to Richmond. His cousin and
first wife, Virginia passed away in the winter of 1847.

It only shows how tragic Poe’s life is. On his short poem that was published a month
before he died entitled “A Dream Within A Dream” the narrator is a confuse and
mysterious man who has just departed from the love of his life. The focus of the
poem is that reality is temporary and not tangible. Life is just a dream, a dream that
we cannot control. Just like our life, we are not sure when it will end and nobody
knows what will happen except God.

The speaker expresses in the poem that his life is dream within a dream. The
purpose is to confirm to his woman that he agrees with her. He is deeply aware that
reality is only temporary and it will not last forever so he will just keep on dreaming.

CONCLUSION

Overall, this poem is about whether or not we can really tell the difference
between reality and a dream, because all that we experience could be a dream
within a dream. Also, whatever we gain in our life, we will lose it all eventually,
because our time will run out and we will die. While the poem states that we all will
die eventually, it can be looked at from different angles. The view that perhaps the
narrator's life was simply a dream within a dream, and he was dreaming in another
life or the afterlife, has a positive connotation. The view that his life is over, and that
all of the narrator's experiences are now lost forever because he was only living in a
dream has a negative connotation. These views share the same denotation that the
narrator's life is going to end, but since everything experienced could be a dream
within a dream, who knows what the other side could hold.
 
The poem could also be self-referential, as the dream within a dream could be an
allusion to the narrator's thoughts, which could be a dream. There were no puns
present in this poem, which is likely due to the serious nature of Edgar Allan Poe's
works. This poem was first published in 1849, the same year that Edgar Allan Poe
died. His cause f death is unknown, but it is suggested that suicide was an option,
which brings a whole new meaning to the work as a whole. Was Poe alluding to his
own life and his own experiences with loss and sadness? Did he know his life was
coming to an end? These are the unanswered questions that poetry brings to life,
and these questions bring a deeper meaning to an already complex and deep poem.