Page 21 - DENG202_ELECTIVE_ENGLISH_III

Elective English—III

Notes becomes a second metaphor for time, as the waters of the sea gradually but inevitably pound
away at the physical existence of the shore. The narrator regards the wave as “pitiless,” but he
further links himself with the temporal nature of the water by weeping in tandem with the
falling of the sand.
Although the two stanzas are not alike in length, their similar use of an iambic rhythm and of
couplets and triplets in their end rhyme scheme makes a pattern that matches the parallel of
their ideas. Especially, the refrain lines “All that we see or seem/Is but a dream within a dream”
unite the passages in the poem’s conclusion of ineffectiveness and remorse at the movement of
time. Poe attracts attention to “all that we see or seem” with alliteration, and we can view this
phrase as the combination of two aspects of reality, where “all that we see” is the external and
“all that we seem” is the internal element. By asserting that both sides are the also alliterative
phrase “a dream within a dream,” Poe suggests that neither is more real than a dream.
As the title, the phrase “a dream within a dream” has a special implication to any understandings
of the poem. Poe takes the idea of a daydream and twists it so that the narrator’s opinion of
reality happens at two degrees of detachment away from reality. Therefore, this reality
contemplates upon itself through the medium of dreams, and the narrator can no longer
distinguish causality in his perception. By showing the narrator’s suffering at his observations,
Poe increases the risks of uncertainty and of the potential changes to his identity. Time is a
powerful but mysterious force that endorses cognitive discord between the protagonist’s self
and his abilities of understanding, and the daydream proves to have ensnared him. Otherwise,
the poem itself may be viewed as the outermost dream, where the inner dream is just a function
of the narrator’s mind.

Did u know? A Dream within a Dream rhymes: in the first stanza it is—AAABBCCDDBB,
and in the second stanza—EEFFGGGHHIIBB. It has feet and is metered.
This poem is Gothic. Gothic poems are characterised as extremely emotional, inherently sublime,
and disturbing in atmosphere. They are psychologically anxious, mysterious and dark caused
by frustration, despair, madness, and death. Those characterizations are presented in two lines:
“O God! Can I not save (21)/‘One’ from the pitiless waves?” (22) Extreme emotion, frustration,
despair and fear of death, is present when the poet cries, “O God!” (21). Admiration inherent in
the transcendental is present when the poet realises he cannot “save (21)/‘One’” (22). The
atmosphere is troubling when the poet refers to the waves as “pitiless” (22). The poet identifies
his psychological nervousness when he says the memories cannot be saved not even “One” (22).
Darkness and mystery appears when the poet cries, “O God!” (21) Madness and death is present
when the poet realises he cannot save even one reality, but time will take it away like the
“pitiless wave” (22). The poet cries to a supernatural being is eager with psychological anxiety,
for he cannot save one memory, the waves take on personification for being pitiless: they are
without regard for his desires. Similar to the grains of golden sand life and life’s golden memories
slip through his fingers with the passage of time, much like waves wearing away the sand on a
beach.

This poem has two stanzas, and two couplets. The first stanza is lines one through nine, and the
second stanza is twelve through twenty-two. The couplets are lines ten and eleven, and twenty-
three and twenty-four. The first stanza is a response to a proposition posed by a beloved and
farewell to the beloved. He asserts an agreement: “You are not wrong, who deem” (4)/That my
days have been a dream” (5): the rest of the poem is a response to that assertion. The author poses
a question as hope flies during the night or day without present vision—is it gone?
The second stanza is lines twelve through twenty-two. It is written in the first person coupled
with verbs “I stand” (12), “I hold” (14), “I weep” (18), and “can I” (21). The poet stands, holds,

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