Annotation Within A Dream Diction

There will be a time in everyone’s life in which they feel surrounded by confusion and tragedy. Edgar Allan Poe’s “A Dream Within a Dream” is a widely known lyrical poem surrounding the thoughts of a speaker whose seemingly dashed hopes and dreams have led him to question the very meaning and purpose of life. Through the emotionally-charged words spoken by the speaker, the powerful imagery and subtle symbolism, the use of apostrophe, and the juxtaposition created between the two parallel stanzas of the poem, Poe eventually reveals the poem’s skeptical and regretful theme: many elements of a person’s life, specifically the passing of time, are ultimately out of one’s control, and any and all good things which a person experiences must ultimately come to an end. As the first three lines of the poem are read, the reader is quickly introduced to the dramatic situation of the piece. The speaker, whose gender is never explicitly stated but can be inferred to be an older male, is addressing a lover who is soon going to pass away. In lines 4-5, the speaker states, “You are not wrong, who deem / That my days have been a dream”, which is his way of …show more content…
He poses a logical rhetorical question to those who oppose his philosophy on hope in a person’s life and makes bold statements as to the reality and merit of any given event or element of life in general. These ideas offered by the speaker, along with the general lack of expletives as compared to the second stanza, all add to the calmly solemn and somewhat brave tone of the first half of the piece. But, just as the reader may seem to have identified the tone of the poem as he or she finishes the first stanza, it quickly and abruptly shifts to display a much more frantic and desperate attitude as the second stanza is